


Delinquents and Superheroes

by iantosgal



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Misfits!AU, Multi, Recreational Drug Use, Swearing, passing mention of thoughts of suicide, reference to past child abuse, sexual mental and physical abuse is mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-02 00:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iantosgal/pseuds/iantosgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When five young offenders on Community Service get caught in a strange storm, they discover that they have developed superpowers.</p><p>Misfits!AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Episode 1: The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> For this prompt on the kink meme: http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/17613.html?thread=40221133#t40221133

“This is it. This is your chance to do something positive, to give something back. You can help people. You can really make a difference to peoples lives. That's what community service is all about. There are people out there that think you're scum. You have an opportunity to show them they're wrong.”

“Yeah, but what if they're right?” 

“Excuse me?”

“No offence to anyone here, but I think some people are just born to be criminals.”

“Are you looking to get smacked?”

“See what I mean?”

“Hey?...Doing my community service...boring as fuck.”

“Hello! I'm still talking here. Get off the phone.”

“Sorry I thought you were finished.”

“Does it look like I'm finished? Lips. Still moving. Still talking. Not finished.”

“You could have been chewing or yawning or...”

“Hang up!”

“I shouldn't be here. Can I move to another group? This isn't going to work for me.”

“Errrr what makes you think you're better than us?”

“That's not what I said.”

“Is everyone in this group a wanker?”

“Maybe I can give you a hand with that...”

“Fuck off.”

“Ooo I think he likes me!”

“Get off me!”

“People! Let's have some order here!”

“Get the fuck off me or I'll fucking cut you!”

“Stop it!”

“He just tried to fucking punch me!”

“Pack it in all of you!”

Loki split the two fighting youths up and sighed. He looked over the group. Five guys, one girl and all of them arrogant, violent and just looking for ways to piss of the world. 

This might be his most trying community service group yet. 

* * * * * * * * * *

“So...what are you here for?” Tony asked. 

“Fuck off,” the boy replied. 

“Oh come on...Clint, isn't it? Come on, Clint. I'm just trying to get to know everyone. You know, get us bonding as a team.”

“I don't want to bond as a team. I want you to get out of my face and let me crack on with this bullshit so I can fuck off home.”

“You are a very hostile young man, did you know that?”

“Leave him alone, Tony.”

“Oh sorry, Mr Whiter-than-white,” Tony said, mockingly. “I forgot you where there. Oh wait, you can hardly be called that anymore can you. I remember reading about you in the paper. Steve Rogers, promising athlete, throws it all away by dealing drugs.”

“I wasn't dealing,” Steve said, turning on Tony. “It was just possession.”

“Drugs is drugs, buddy.”

“No one here is squeaky clean. That's kind of why we're here,” Natasha interjected. “Why don't you tell us why you're here, Stark?”

“I love it when you say my name like that. Feisty.”

“Bite me.”

“Don't tempt me sweetheart,” Tony said with a wink. “I stole a car. A very nice car. It was a Bentley.”

“Get the fuck out.”

“It was my dad's car and he's a dick so he had me done for theft.”

“Oh, daddy issues. Great,” Steve muttered. 

“What about you big guy?” Tony said, ignoring Steve completely. “What did you do?”

“I went to a party, had a few drinks and drove home,” Thor replied, loudly. “Hit a couple of parked cars.”

“A couple?”

“Four.”

“Ouch.”

“Are we done with twenty questions now?” Clint spat. 

“I never asked Mr Silent and Brooding over there,” Tony said. “and Redhead never said what she did either...”

“How about you just leave it the fuck alone,” Clint said, throwing a paint brush at Tony. “And paint the fucking bench.”

Tony caught the brush and dipped it into the paint with a sigh. He shot a glance over at Bruce, the only person who hadn't said a word since they started this fucking thing. 

“You guys are no fun,” he said, slapping paint onto the bench. A rumble of thunder made him look up at the sky where large, black clouds were rapidly crossing the otherwise clear sky. “What is up with this weather?” 

“How are we getting on?” Loki asked, looking down at the benches and not missing the fact that Tony's only had one splodge of paint on it. “Are you seriously having trouble with this, Tony? It's painting benches. How hard can it be?”

A huge crash made them all jump and look at a car parked nearby. It was flattened under what looked like a giant block of ice. 

“What the fuck is that?” Natasha yelled, pointing at the sky. The clouds had got darker and bigger and as they watched, a fork of lightening shot across the sky just as a second chunk of ice splashed into the river beside them, spraying them all with water. Another block crashed into a nearby bin. 

“I'm getting a little bit freaked out now!” Tony yelled. 

“Inside! All of you!” Loki yelled. They ran back towards the community centre, dodging and weaving to avoid the giant ice blocks that hurtled out of the sky. “Move! Keep going!” Loki shouted, urging them on. 

Steve hurtled ahead and yanked on the doors. 

“They're locked! Open it, open it!” he said, urging Loki forward. The probation worker fumbled with his keys, the youths' cries echoing in his ears. 

“What is happening!?”

“Come on!”

“Open the door!”

“Open the fucking door!”

Loki spun around to face them.

“Don't speak to me like that!” he roared. 

A booming crack of thunder, a blinding flash of light and a huge shock wave had them hurtling away from each other, flying through the air as though unseen hands had grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and yanked them backwards. 

They seemed to fly through the air for hours, lightening flickering around them, screams echoing dimly through the air, before they fell abruptly back to earth with a bone jarring thud.

They lay motionless for a few moments, smaller globs of ice smashing all around them, before someone groaned and one by one they pushed themselves up a little, looking at each other with wide eyes.

“I feel really weird,” Tony said.

“That would be the lightening,” Clint muttered. 

“We should be dead,” Thor added. 

“Is everyone alright?” Loki asked, sitting up with a grimace. His face contorted for a moment into something else and he violently growled something almost unintelligible. 

“Did he just call me a wanker?” Tony demanded. 

“Shut up, Tony,” Steve said, wearily. 

“Are you alright?” Bruce asked Loki, quietly, finally breaking his silence. 

“Maybe we should call it a day,” Loki said, slowly getting to his feet. 

The youths shared a look and then struggled to their feet. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Natasha stripped off her orange jumpsuit and grabbed her tight black t-shirt. She pulled it on and tugged at her bra a little, settling the black material smoothly over her boobs. She tugged her red hair out of it's ponytail and shook it out to sit just on her shoulders. 

“Fuck me...that is sinfully tight...”

Natasha turned around and caught Steve's eye. He looked away.

“What did you say?” 

He looked at her confused. 

“I didn't say anything.”

Natasha turned away from him, brows creasing in confusion. 

“I would definitely tap that.”

“What?” Natasha demanded, spinning back to Steve. 

“What? I didn't say anything!”

“Yes you did, I heard you.”

“I did not say a word.”

“He didn't,” Bruce said, making Natasha jump. She hadn't noticed he was there. 

“But...I heard you....”

Steve looked at her like she was crazy, grabbed his jacket and threw it on on his way out of the door, shooting her one last look over his shoulder. Bruce slipped out after him, giving Natasha a tight smile before he left. Natasha shook her head, grabbed her bag and followed them. 

The rest of the boys were all standing in a group in the middle of the hall, looking unsure. 

“Do we just leave?” Clint asked. “Where's the probation worker?”

“I think there's something wrong with him,” Bruce said. “It looked like he had some kind of seizure”

“Probably faking it,” Tony said.

“Why would he fake it?” Thor demanded.

“Compensation!”

“Let's get the fuck out of here,” Clint snapped, heading for the door. 

The others followed, none of them noticing Loki standing in the shadows, watching them with angry eyes whilst his body convulsed.


	2. Episode 2: Powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the storm, the young offenders find that strange things are happening...

The next day everyone was a little subdued. 

They suited up into the hideous orange jumpsuits without saying a word to each other and filed out into the hallway. 

“Where's the probation worker?” Thor asked. 

“No idea,” Tony replied. “Can't say I really care.”

“Well...what do we do now?” Bruce said. 

“Whatever we damn well like,” Tony said, with a smirk. He started shaking the vending machine, trying to dislodge a snickers bar. 

“Tony, I know you have money,” Steve said. “You're only here because you took a joy ride in your dad's Bentley.”

“No, you know my dad is rich. Also, it wasn't a joyride. I stole it and sold it to a very nice man who is currently using it to ferry drugs across the Mexican border.”

“Fuck off,” Clint said, with a bark of a laugh. 

“True story.”

“Maybe we should see if we can find him? He was behaving weird when we left yesterday...what if something's wrong with him?” Bruce urged. 

“Oh for fucks sake,” Clint muttered. 

“He has a point. He was behaving weird after the storm. Maybe he's collapsed somewhere,” Steve reasoned. 

“Speaking of the storm...” Thor said, carefully. “Have any of you noticed anything...weird since it happened?”

They all shared a look. 

“Now you mention it...I keep hearing people talking but no ones said anything. Sometimes...I'm the only one in the room,” Natasha said. “It's almost like I can hear...their thoughts or something.”

“For real?” Steve said, looking a little embarrassed. 

“Yeah...like right now, Tony is wondering if my breasts feel as good as they look.”

“Holy shit...I totally was,” Tony said, smirking. 

“Last night, I was reaching for a beer and it literally shot across the room into my hand,” Thor said. “I tried a few things and...well...” He put out a hand and the coils of the vending machine began to turn, chocolate bars falling free down into the bottom. Tony pounced and grabbed a snickers bar, chomping into it with a pleased grin on his face. 

“Anyone else?” Natasha asked. 

“I haven't noticed anything,” Steve said. 

“Me neither,” Bruce added. “Maybe it's just you two?”

“Nope,” Clint said, with a weary sigh. “I've got some weird shit happening with my sight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like...I can see really clearly really, really far away and...”

“And?”

“I can kind of see through walls.”

“That's cool,” Tony said at the same time as Steve asked “How far is really, really far?”

“Like...I dunno. If I stand on the top of the community centre I can see the poster on the wall of the top apartment over the river.”

“Fuck off.”

“It's Marilyn Monroe.”

“Shit.”

“What about you, Tony?”

“Nope, nothing that I know of. I went out last night, drank a few beers, hooked up with a girl, drank a few more beers, hooked up with a guy...it was pretty much a normal night.”

“This is really weird,” Steve said. 

“Thank you Captain Obvious,” Clint grumbled. 

“Hey man, stop with the snide comments, ok? We've got to figure this out.”

“Well, seems to me, _Captain_ that there's nothing for you to sort out. This isn't you're problem. We'll deal with it,” Clint snapped, turning and walking away. Thor and Natasha shared a look and then followed him. 

“Hey!” Steve called, moving to go after them. 

“Steve, just leave it,” Tony said, reaching out and grabbing Steve's arm. 

As soon as he touched him, Steve stiffened and then spun to face Tony, grabbing his face and kissing him as if his life depended on it. He pushed the other boy backwards until Tony's back hit the wall and then began to rut shamelessly against him. 

Tony accepted it wide eyed for a second before allowing himself to kiss Steve back, wrapping his arms around his waist and pushing their hips together. 

“What the fuck...?” Natasha said. 

Thor grabbed Steve and pulled him backwards forcefully, a little worried they may actually start having sex in the middle of the hallway. Steve seemed to come to his senses as soon as he was pulled away and then looked around the group in horror. 

“What just happened?”

“You and Tony were about to do the nasty right in front of us,” Clint said. 

“What?! No...no way, I'm...I...I don't remember...” 

“Really?”

“It's like...as soon as Tony touched me I was taken over with this...lust.”

“Huh...you know, now I come to think of it, those two from last night were really easy to pull.”

“What, so your super power is to turn people on?” Steve said, mockingly. 

“I'm gonna get laid so much!” Tony yelled, holding out his hand for a high five. Everyone backed away slightly. 

“You two must have something?” Natasha said. “Law of averages. If everyone else has developed some kind of power, surely you two must have as well.”

“Well, I don't know what it is,” Steve said, sounding sullen. “Let's just...find the probation worker.” Steve marched away not looking at them. 

“Fine,” Tony sighed. “Though why we can't just get Clint to look through all the walls until we find him, I don't know.”

Clint shot him a look and Tony shivered when his eyes glowed blue.

“Did you just look through me?”

Clint smirked. 

* * * * * * * * * *

They searched through the community centre but Loki was nowhere to be found. Clint looked though walls and Natasha listened carefully for his thoughts but he wasn't in the building. They looked in the surrounding area but still couldn't find him. 

“Fuck this,” Thor said. “We tried to find him. We've done our duty. We should just go home.”

“Duty? We don't owe him anything, I'm with the big guy on this,” Tony said, turning and heading back. 

As soon as they got back into the community centre, they could all tell something was off. The air was almost thick with tension and malice. 

Bruce took a step back, breathing slightly laboured, hands shaking. 

“Whoa...do you guys feel that?” Tony asked. 

“Yeah...”

A loud thud had them spinning towards the main hall. Slowly, carefully they made their way to the door and stood with their backs to the wall. Steve went to peak through the glass but Clint pulled him back, cocked his head to one side and winked. He faced the wall and stared at it intently, eyes glowing blue as he looked through the drywall and into the hall. After a few moments he sighed and screwed up his eyes, shaking his head slightly. 

“He's in there,” he said. “He's acting weird.”

“Define weird,” Thor said. 

“Everything is fucking weird around her lately,” Tony sighed.

“Weird as in he's...stalking across the room.”

“Stalking?”

“That is literally the only word I can think of to describe it.”

“Ok, so...now what?”

“Let's go talk to him,” Tony said, pushing through the door before anyone could stop him. With a roll of his eyes, Steve followed after Tony, the others trailing along in his wake. “Hey! Probation worker guy!”

“My name is Loki,” the man growled. 

“Yeah, Loki. What's going on man? You're acting like a crazy guy.”

“I'm not crazy.”

“Ok. Well, a bunch of us have had these weird powers develop ever since we got caught in that storm. How about you?”

Loki didn't say anything, just glowered at the group from the centre of the room. Natasha suddenly lowered her head as though she was preparing to charge. 

“He's thinking he's going to kill us all.”

“Oh...well that's...awesome,” Tony said. 

Loki ran at them suddenly, roaring with rage and producing a fucking machete from behind his back. 

“Holy shit!” Tony shouted, just as Thor yanked him backwards by his t-shirt, carefully avoiding touching any of his skin. 

Loki swung the machete at Thor's head but the blond managed to throw himself to one side. Steve ran at the probation worker and rugby tackled him but, even though Steve had more muscle in one arm than Loki seemed to have in his entire body, Loki managed to not only stay upright but also to fling Steve easily aside. 

Loki charged again, this time heading towards Clint and Natasha, who dropped and rolled away from each other, Loki's machete slicing through the air where their heads had been only seconds before. 

A sudden, deafening roar had everyone stopping in their tracks, even Loki froze with his machete raised above his head. They turned to look at where the roar had come from and saw Bruce holding himself up by the door, gasping for breath and in front of him stood Bruce. 

Tony did an actual double take. 

The Bruce by the door looked terrified and had a hand pressed to his chest whilst the Bruce in front looked like a caricature of the quiet young man. He was taller, broader and seemed to tremble with rage. Bruce2 roared again and ran at Loki. He grabbed the probation worker and slammed him into the floor, before picking him up and throwing him down again and again and again.

“Bruce!” Thor shouted, but he didn't seem to hear him. 

Finally, after what felt like hours, Bruce2 let Loki go and stood panting in the middle of the room. 

“What the fuck was that!?” Tony shouted. 

“How is there two of you?” Steve asked, eyes flitting between Bruce and Bruce2.

“It's the storm,” Natasha said.

“Yeah, it's gotta be his power,” Clint muttered. 

“I'm you,” Bruce2 said, pointing a finger at Bruce and not even deigning to glance at the others. “I'm all the anger and violence you keep bottled up inside. All the things your too pussy to say or do, I'm just gonna do it for you.”

“This is crazy,” Bruce said, still looking terrified. 

“Maybe, but I'm part of you now.” Bruce2 marched over to Bruce and stopped just in front of him. “I just saved your sorry ass. You're welcome.” He took another step forward and Bruce stumbled backwards as Bruce2 walked straight into him and was sucked back inside his chest. 

Everyone stared at each other, stunned and then slowly turned to look at the bloody mess that was their probation worker. 

“I think I'm gonna be sick,” Tony muttered. 

“We killed our probation worker,” Steve breathed. 

“ _We_ didn't do a damn thing!” Tony shouted and jabbed a finger towards Bruce. “It was him!”

“Me! I...I didn't do anything! I didn't know that was gonna happen!” Bruce stammered. 

“Arguing is going to get us nowhere,” Steve said, firmly. “We need to deal with this.” Steve gestured towards the pulpy mess that was Loki and sighed. 

“I'll grab a shovel,” Clint said, like it was nothing and headed out of the room, Natasha and Thor heading after him. 

“I should have stopped him,” Steve whispered to himself. He gasped as he felt something tugging at him, his stomach churning, dozens of images flashing in his eyes. He gasped when the sensations stopped and looked around to see if anyone else had been affected. 

He was outside the main hall, standing beside Clint whose eyes were glowing blue as he looked through the wall. 

“He's in there,” he said. “He's acting weird.”

“Define weird,” Thor said. 

Steve's breath caught in his throat and his head spun. They'd had this conversation before. 

“Everything is fucking weird around her lately,” Tony sighed.

“Weird as in he's...stalking across the room.”

“Stalking?”

“That is literally the only word I can think of to describe it.”

“Ok, so...now what?”

“Let's go talk to him,” Tony said, pushing through the door before anyone could stop him. Steve reached out a hand to stop him but Tony was already gone. 

“Shit...” he breathed and chased after him. 

“Hey! Probation worker guy!”

“My name is Loki,” the man growled. 

“Yeah, Loki. What's going on man? You're acting like a crazy guy.”

“I'm not crazy.”

“Tony, shut up,” Steve hissed, rushing to stand in front of Tony and pushing him back, making sure his hand only touched his clothed chest. 

“What are you doing?”

“We need to get out of here. Now.”

“Steve, what's going on?”

“Hey, guys...the probation worker's thinking he wants to kill us all,” Natasha interrupted. 

“Oh...well that's...awesome,” Tony said. 

“Run!” Steve roared, not even turning to watch Loki pull out his machete. “Go, go!” he pushed Tony backwards and they ran, Loki hot on their heels. They ran towards the doors but when they reached them, they were locked. 

“How the...?” Natasha said, turning to face the others, words catching in her throat as her eyes went wide at the sight behind them. 

Panting, Steve turned to see Loki had them cornered. Bruce was shaking, but before Bruce2 could emerge, Loki strode forward and pushed the blade straight through Bruce's chest.

“NO!” Steve screamed. 

Thor rushed forward and tackled Loki. They wrestled on the ground and Clint dove after them, trying to grab the machete from Loki's grasp. He yelped as the blade sliced first across his chest and then across his face. He fell back, clutching a hand over his eye and shuffled backwards, cursing loudly, blood seeping between his fingers. Loki managed to throw Thor off and then slash the blade across his neck. Natasha, Tony and Steve backed away from the mad man, hitting the doors and having nowhere else to go. 

Steve looked down at Bruce's crumpled form, at Thor drowning in his own blood, at Clint moaning in agony in a steadily growing pool of red. 

_This is all my fault._ he thought, and suddenly the feelings were back. He was sucked backwards, images dancing across his eyes and once again, he found himself in the hallway, standing beside Clint, whose face was unmarked and eyes shining blue, as he stared through the wall. 

Loki dead was better than him killing all of them so this time, Steve let it play out like before. He turned away as Bruce2 smashed Loki's head in against the tiled floor and said nothing when it was over. When Clint, Thor and Natasha left the room, he heard Bruce muttering. 

“What?” he asked. 

“I said...I'm sorry. I should have tried to stop the other me.”

“No...you really shouldn't have.”

“What does that mean?” Tony demanded, just as the other returned, Thor and Clint clutching shovels, whist Natasha pushed a wheelbarrow. 

“It means, I have a power too. I knew this was going to happen because I've lived it three times.”

“What?”

“I can go back in time, but I don't have control. I was standing here and I said I should have stopped Bruce2 and then I got dragged back in time. I stopped the other Bruce from killing Loki and he massacred half of us. I was looking at you guys, dead and dying and thinking it was all my fault and I got dragged back again. So I put it right.”

“This is your definition of right?” Tony said, sounding dazed. 

“It's better than the alternative,” Steve replied, and grabbed Loki's legs. Clint stepped forward and grabbed Loki under the arms, looking anywhere but at the guys mashed head, and together they lifted him into the wheelbarrow. They covered him in a jacket and wheeled him out to Steve's car, loading him and the shovels into the trunk. 

“Ok, lets do this,” Steve said, slamming the trunk and climbing behind the wheel.


	3. Episode 3: The New Probation Worker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new probation worker is very different to Loki and he does things to Clint.

It was a week before someone realised Loki was missing and they got a new probation worker. 

This guy was completely different. He was the epitome of average. Average build, average height, unassuming and polite. He wore a simple black suit with a white shirt and black tie and he drove a black sedan. When he first arrived, he walked in as if he'd worked their every day of his life, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses like some kind of secret agent and stared at them. He didn't smile, he didn't say anything or remove his glasses, but still it was like he was looking into their souls. 

For a few long moments they simply stood there and then, suddenly, the man reached up, took of his glasses and smiled. 

“My name's Phil. I'm your new probation worker.”

Clint went a little weak at the knees.

There was something about him. Something about the coolness of his tone and the set of his shoulders, something about the smile and the glint in his eyes, that made Clint's heart thud a little faster. He swallowed and looked at the others to see if anyone had noticed but only Natasha was looking at him with twinkling eyes. 

Since they'd murdered Loki and buried the body the whole group had become close, but he felt like he had found a kindred spirit in Natasha. She knew what he was thinking because she could read minds, but she also said it was because he projected his thoughts so damn loud. They had a lot of the same interests and hobbies, they both did martial arts and had taken to sparring and working out together. She was the only one that knew what he did to land himself on community service and that was because he'd chosen to tell her. 

She was also the only one that knew he was gay but that was mostly because he didn't see why he should have to make a big announcement that his preferred men. When it came up in conversation, it came up in conversation. 

Now though...now he was in trouble. 

Phil wasn't anything like Loki. He had seemed both unassuming and terrifying when they first met him but over the first couple of weeks that he was their probation worker, Clint found he was becoming smitten. 

Phil took the time to get to know them and he spoke to them as if they were normal people, not moronic delinquents who were a lost cause. He chatted to them and laughed with them and Clint was horribly aware that he was harbouring a major crush. 

“Oh God...” he groaned, and thumped his head on the bar. Natasha patted his head, laughing softly. “This is so fucking stupid.”

“Clint, it's not the end of the world.”

“It could be.”

“Don't be so dramatic.”

“What's wrong with him?” Thor said, pouring Clint another drink. The best thing about Thor working behind the bar was the occasional free drink when no one was looking. 

“My life is over,” Clint said, accepting the beer and downing half of it at once. He liked Thor a lot and found it easy to add “I really want to fuck the probation worker” on to the end of his sentence. 

“Oh,” Thor said, and poured another drink. “I didn't know you were gay.”

“Yep.”

“Ok, whatever. But Coulson? Really?”

“He does things to me. I can't describe it but I really, _really_ want to fuck him.”

“So, fuck him,” Tony said, plopping down onto the seat beside Clint as if he had been part of the conversation since the beginning.

“Whose fucking who?” Steve asked. 

“Clint wants to fuck Phil,” Natasha said, just as Steve took a drink. 

He promptly spat it over the bar.

“Problem, Cap?” Tony asked, an edge to his voice. 

“No. I was just shocked because Phil is like...forty. And I thought I told you not to call me that.”

“Oh come on, you are totally the Captain of the group.”

“Why does anyone have to be the Captain?”

“Give it up, Steve,” Bruce said, with a small smile. “It's stuck now, you'll never get him to stop.”

“Hello, can we go back to my problem?” Clint said, sulkily. 

“You don't have a problem,” Tony reasoned. “If you want to fuck him, go make it happen.”

“It's not as simple as that. I'm not you, I can't just touch someone and bam, sex. That's not how it works.”

“My power's kind of a drag after a while. I miss the chase and I miss knowing people want to actually have sex with me rather than just doing it because my power is telling them they want it.”

“I think people still want it,” Steve said and then coughed and looked away. Clint rolled his eyes and wondered if Steve would ever just get over himself and admit he was crushing on Tony. 

“He is our probation worker,” Clint said, bringing the conversation back to topic. “We killed out last one, in case anyone forgot.”

“That was a one time thing,” Bruce assured him. “I've gotten much better at controlling Bruce2.”

“I'm pretty sure there is unwritten rule about fucking your probation worker somewhere.”

“I think, your protesting so much because you don't want to fuck him,” Thor said, putting his dish towel over his shoulder and crossing his muscular arms over his chest. “I think you actually like him. Like...'like' like him.”

“There were too many likes in that sentence,” Clint said, dodging the accusation. 

“I think Thor has a point,” Natasha said. 

“Do you think we haven't all noticed the way you make lovey dovey eyes at him? Face it Clint, you don't want to fuck him, you want to be with him. You want to have a relationship,” Tony said, wisely. 

Clint sighed and said nothing. 

“Knew it,” Thor said and laughed.

“Ok, fine.” Clint got to his feet and ignored the cat calls and the wolf whistles. “Maybe I do, so what. It's never going to happen so, let's just leave it at that. I'm going clubbing. Who's in?”

“I'm in,” Natasha said, winking at him to let him know she approved of his tactless way of changing the subject. 

“Let me just finish up and I'm game,” Thor said, wiping down the bar and shooting the couple in the corner a glowering look until they downed the rest of their drinks and left. 

“You know I'm in,” Tony said. “Cap and Bruce too.” Steve shook his head but smiled. 

“Alright, lets get drunk as fuck and maybe I can forget all about this,” Clint said and led the way out of the bar. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Clint slammed his locker with a loud sigh and fiddled around with his jumpsuit. It was so damn restricting and uncomfortable so he'd decided to try something new. He'd done the jumpsuit up to his hips and then tied the arms around his waist, a white vest top covering his torso leaving his arms free of the confining fabric. He rolled his shoulders a little to loosen them and tugged at the chain around his neck. 

The others were chattering around him, heading off to find out what joys were in store for them today. Clint followed them a little more subdued. 

His head was banging and he'd kept his sunglasses on to try and ease it, but so far, he still felt like shit. He had almost drowned himself in beer the night before, trying to block at all thoughts of Phil and this stupid crush that was maybe more than a crush. 

Phil seemed to appear out of thin air before him and Clint stopped. 

“Sore head?” Phil asked, as perceptive as always. 

“Heavy night,” Clint said, with a shrug. 

“The other's have already headed out. I'm afraid it's graffiti scrubbing today.”

“Could be worse. Could be dog sh...poo.”

Phil laughed. 

“You know, it won't actually offend my delicate sensibilities to use the word shit.”

“Just trying to be polite,” Clint said, with a smirk. They looked at each other for a moment and Clint felt his heart rate picked up. God, this was ridiculous, he was turning into a fifteen year old girl. He cleared his throat. “I should...I should go...do the...err...”

“Yes, of course” Phil said, nodding and taking a quick step away. 

Clint nodded and smiled awkwardly before heading outside. Once the door shut behind him he smacked himself in the head and then kicked the door. 

“Fuck,” he bit out, feeling like a total idiot. “Smooth, Clint, real smooth.”

“What's wrong with you?” Natasha asked, when he joined them. 

“Oh, nothing. I just made a complete fucking idiot of myself in front of Phil. I swear to God, this crush is getting out of hand.”

“I still say you should fuck him,” Tony said, running his brush far too lightly over the graffiti to actually shift any of it. 

“Yes, we all know your opinion on the matter,” Thor sighed. “But I think Clint wants a little more than a quick fuck.”

Clint groaned and let his head fall against the wall. 

“Oh, baby got it bad,” Natasha said, with a slight laugh. 

“I literally turn into a bumbling idiot whenever it's just me and him. He must think I'm a moron.”

“I don't think that's true,” Steve said. 

“I'm pretty sure he does. I can see it all over his face.”

“No you can't,” Bruce said. 

“Uhh...hello? Superpowered eye sight over here. I see it.”

“It's all in your head,” Steve said. 

“How is the sight thing, by the way?” Tony asked. 

Clint had been trying to train his x-ray vision to see images sharper through walls and also to improve his long range vision. He was getting pretty good at it. 

“Yeah, it's good. I actually see in colour now when I turn on the x-ray.”

“See, I wish I had a power that I could actually improve,” Tony said. “You all get to hang out and work on honing yours. You even help Bruce work on containing the other guy and I just have to make sure I don't touch anyone I don't want to fuck.”

“You forgot about Steve,” Natasha said. “He can't train his power either.”

“Yeah, maybe you two should hang out together,” Bruce said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“You could touch him all you want,” Clint mumbled. 

“What?” Steve squeaked. 

“Nothing.”

* * * * * * * * * * 

Clint didn't see Phil one on one for a few days, trying to keep a little distance between them so he wouldn't make himself look like a fucking idiot again. 

It had been a boring day of picking up rubbish and Clint was ready to go home, drink a beer and try not to think about how badly he wanted Phil in his bed. Or on the floor. Or up against a wall. Anywhere, really. 

“You want to grab a drink?” Thor asked, pulling his jacket on over his broad shoulders. 

“I think I'm just gonna head home and drink there.”

“And think about Phil?” Tony said, sticking out his tongue. 

“Oh...bite me, Stark.”

“Maybe a few drinks would help,” Thor said. 

“Didn't help the other night,” Clint grumbled. 

“Well...you know where we'll be if you change your mind,” Steve said, clapping Clint on the shoulder. 

Natasha pecked him on the cheek, linking arms with Bruce as they all headed out together whilst Clint sat down to do up his shoes. He stood up and yelped when he saw Phil standing by the door. 

“Jesus fucking Christ! You're like some kind of crazy fucking ninja!”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.”

“Well...you did.”

“I can see that.” 

Silence fell between them and Clint felt like kicking himself when he couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. 

“Ok...see you tomorrow then,” he said, finally, heading for the door. 

Phil stopped him with a hand on his arm. 

“Clint, wait...I,” Phil licked his lips and swallowed. “I have something to tell you.”

“Ok,” Clint said, willing his heart to slow down so he could hear of the deafening thump thump thump. 

“I know you and your friends were caught up in the storm. I know it gave you powers.”

“What?”

“I know...because it gave me powers to.”

“Really?”

Phil smiled at him and then disappeared. Clint blinked in shock and looked around but Phil had vanished. His eyes glowed blue as he tried using his power but still he couldn't see Phil. He startled when something wrapped around him from behind before he realised it was Phil's arms. He glanced down and was greeted with the strange sight of his jacket being flattened by thin air. Phil was fucking invisible. 

“I heard. The other day, I followed you outside and I heard what you said. I just haven't been able to get you alone until now.”

“I don't...”

“You want to fuck me.” Clint shuddered and Phil's breath tickled his ear as he laughed, softly. “Not just to fuck me. You want me. I want you too, Clint. So much.” 

Clint sighed as he felt Phil kiss his neck. 

“Phil,” he breathed. “I want to see you.”

The grip around his waist disappeared and Clint moaned but suddenly Phil was there, right in front of him. They stared at each other for a moment before Clint grabbed Phil, cupping his face in his hands and kissed him, hungrily. He pushed the older man backwards until he had him pressed up against the wall and groaned against his mouth when Phil slid his hands underneath his jacket and vest to stoke up and down the skin of his back. 

Phil pressed their hips together so that Clint could feel his hard on pressing against his and began to grind against him. Clint broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Phil's, moaning at the sinful movements of Phil's hips. 

“I want you to fuck me too,” Phil whispered, his voice deep and husky and Clint nearly came in his pants from the voice alone. He pushed Phil backwards, kissing him hard, and lifted him so the he could wrap his legs around Clint's waist. Phil chuckled against his lips and held on tight. 

“I don't have anything here. I wasn't exactly expecting this,” Clint mumbled. 

“We could go back to your place? Or mine?”

Clint shook his head. The thought of pulling away from Phil now made him want to weep. 

“I've got a better idea,” he said, working a hand in between them and unzipping Phil's trousers. Phil got with the program quick and slid a hand down from Clint's neck to flick open the button on Clint's jeans and slide down the zip. Clint pulled both of their hard dicks out, wrapped them in one hand and began to stroke them slowly. 

“Fuck...” Phil whimpered and Clint's dick jumped in his hand. Phil wound his arms tighter around Clint's shoulders and pressed their mouths together, opening up his lips and allowing Clint's tongue to dart out and tangle with his own. Clint sped up his hand and bit back a moan, biting his cheek to stop the sound escaping, but Phil had no such qualms. He moaned loudly and said Clint's name over and over again. Clint was starting to loose rhythm and he was aware that this was messy and a little uncoordinated and all kinds of quick, but he couldn't find it in himself to give a shit. 

“Oh...fuck, Phil!” he shouted as he came in between them and was glad to see Phil come at almost the same time, a long strangled moan accompanying the sticky come that coated Clint's fingers. 

They stood panting for long moments before Clint set Phil gently down. He grabbed a towel left behind by Tony and wiping himself clean before offering it to Phil. Silently, they sorted themselves out and then Clint stood awkwardly, wondering what happened now.

“Listen, Ph...” 

He was cut off but Phil's lips pressing firmly against his own. 

“That was amazing,” he said, and Clint couldn't stop the smirk that spread across his lips. He'd been told by all his past boyfriends that he had amazing hands. “But I want more than just a quick fumble. I want to take you out for dinner and then I want to take you home, open you up slowly and then fuck you until you can't remember your name.”

Clint took a deep, shuddering breath. 

“Sounds good,” he said, forcing it past the lump in his throat.

“Tomorrow? Eight o'clock?”

“I'll be there.”

“Great,” Phil pressed another quick kiss to his lips and headed towards the door. “We'll iron out the details tomorrow.”

“Ok. Night, Phil.”

“Good night,” Phil said, smiling at him once more before he was gone. 

Clint stared at the door for a few minutes and then grinned. He shook his head and huffed out a laugh, feeling a little dazed, and headed out of the community centre, unable to keep the grin of his face. 

He decided he would go to the bar and have a few drinks with the others after all. He felt like celebrating. As soon as he walked into the bar, Natasha turned to look at him and smirked.

“What are you looking so happy about?” Tony asked. “I thought you were too lovesick to come out and play tonight.”

Clint just sat down beside Natasha and smirked. 

“Oh. My. Fucking. God,” Tony said loudly, staring at Clint. “You got laid.”

“What?” Steve said, spinning to face Clint. “Did you? Was it Phil?”

Clint nodded and then shook his head instead when everyone whooped.

“Oh fuck off,” he said, still grinning like a loon. 

“I want to hear everything,” Tony cried.

“Oh please, no,” Bruce mumbled. “I don't need to know anything about Clint's sex life.”

“From what I hear, it was kind of hot.”

“Get out of my head, Tasha.”

“Stop projecting so loud then, moron.”

“So, what happens now?” Steve asked, looking at Clint earnestly. 

“We're going out for dinner tomorrow and then back to his place so he can fuck me into his mattress.”

“Too much information,” Bruce groaned but he was smiling. 

“I'm happy for you,” Thor said, clapping Clint on the back. 

“I'm pretty happy for me too,” Clint admitted.


	4. Episode 4: Resurrection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's past comes back to haunt him when the storm brings someone back from the dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! RL was kicking my ass. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

“Can I just point out, you have become annoyingly happy ever since the probation worker started fucking your brains out,” Tony said, pointing his scraper at Clint.

“That's not fair, Tony,” Clint replied with a smirk. “Sometimes it's me fucking his brains out.”

“Why is it that lately, every conversation we have seems to go straight back to you, Coulson and all the sex?” Bruce asked, sounding a little pained. He was generally a shy guy and all this explicit talk of sex made him blush. 

“Oh Brucey! Come on, man! Clint's all happy and shit. We should celebrate. I mean, when we first met, I was starting to wonder if he'd ever smiled in his life.”

“Oh, bite me Tony,” Clint said, flipping him the bird and going back to scrapping old flyers off the wall. 

“Well, I think it's wonderful,” Thor said. “Love truly can be found in the most unlikely of places.”

“Whoa! Back up there big fella, no one's mentioned the L word yet,” Clint said.

Thor just smirked and carried on wetting the flyers to make it easier to get them off. 

“So...you think the L word will become a thing in the future or...?”

“Tony. Drop it,” Clint said, pointing at Tony sternly but ruining it with a smirk. 

“See, now I feel like cupid. I told you to fuck him! I started this!” Tony said, holding his arms up in triumph. 

“Oh for the love of...”

* * * * * * * * * *

Steve pulled his bike up outside the building and turned off the engine. He jogged up the stairs that lead to the front door and entered the lobby of Dugan Care Centre. 

“Hello Steve,” the woman behind the counter said. 

“Hey Helen. She up for visitors today?”

“She is if it's you, you know that,” Helen replied with a wink. 

Steve started off down the familiar path to room 43 and knocked on the door softly. 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to knock?” the woman inside called and Steve could practically hear the eye roll that went with it. He pushed the door open and peaked into the room. 

“Hey,” he said, crossing the room and plonking himself down in the chair next to the bed. 

Peggy Carter was 92 years old but she looked no older the 75. Her hair was pure white but still thick and wavy. Her brown eyes where alive with wisdom and a lifetimes worth of memories and yet still full of fire and mischief. Her wrinkled hand reached out and clasped his tightly and she grinned up at him from where she was settled in a mound of pillows. 

“Hello my darling,” she said and Steve leant forward and pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek. 

“What are we watching?” he asked. 

“Diagnoses Murder, dear,” she said. 

“Your favourite,” Steve said with a wink. 

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, until Steve became aware that Peggy was no longer watching the TV. She was watching him. He turned to meet her gaze and took in the familiar sadness that often marred her warm, dark eyes and knew exactly what was coming. 

“You remind me so much of him,” she whispered. 

“I know I do, Peggy.”

“I miss him.”

“I know.”

“Such a sweet man. So brave.”

“I wish I could have met him.”

“You would have liked Steve.”

“No, Peg, I'm Steve remember. We're talking about Edward.”

“Ah yes, my wonderful Edward. You look just like him.”

“I know, Peggy, I know,” he murmured gently, rubbing his thumb over the back of her knuckles. 

“Did I ever tell you about him?” she asked.

“Yeah. But tell me again.”

She grinned up at him and Steve smiled in return. He knew the story of Edward inside out but he liked the way Peggy's face lit up when she spoke about him and he knew how important it was for her to talk about it and remember him. 

“During the war I was a member of the British Secret Intelligence and I was working alongside the US army at one of their research facilities where they were trying to create some kind of super soldier serum. Obviously, they were never successful. That was where I met him, he was one of the candidates for the trials. So much like you. Tall, mop of blond hair, broad shoulders, blue eyes and the sweetest smile you ever saw. We had a whirlwind romance, I suppose. We were together just four months before he asked me to marry him and of course I said yes. Oh Steve, I've never been as happy as I was then. We were at war and yet, I had found the love of my life. We used to go out dancing together and to the movies and we even made it into town so he could buy me my ring.” Peggy tapped the engagement ring still worn proudly on her ring finger. A thin gold band with one round diamond. “But it all changed. The programme was shut down and he was shipped out to the front before we had the chance to marry. For two years I only spoke to him through letters and then one day...they just stopped coming.”

Steve tightened his grip on her hand. He knew what happened next. 

“They said he was MIA but I knew...I knew he was dead. I could feel it. They never found him but I always knew. I knew it as soon as those letters stopped coming.” She looked up at him and Steve closed his eyes. “That's why I understand, my dear. I understand why you're struggling. Why you're acting out.”

“I'm fine Peggy.”

“No, you're not. I wish I could bring him back for you.”

Steve shook his head and swallowed past the lump in his throat.

“I thought we were talking about Edward.”

“We were. Now we're talking about Bucky.”

“Peggy...please...”

“I know how hard it is to lose someone you love and it makes my heart ache to know you've lost him the same way I lost my Edward.”

“It's not the same, Peggy. You were in love with Edward. Bucky was my best friend and yeah...I loved him but not that way.”

“Poppycock. You may think you're subtle, my dear, but I know how you felt about that boy. When your mother told me...”

“Peggy, just...stop, please. I don't want to talk about it,” Steve said, cutting her off and pointedly looking back to the TV. Peggy patted his hand and then held it tight.

“Ok, dear, it's ok.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Steve scrubbed hard at the graffiti on the wall, hardly noticing the others around him. His visit to Peggy was playing on his mind. 

“What's up, Steve?” Bruce asked softly from where he had silently moved to stand beside him. 

“I'm fine.”

Bruce stared at him for a long movement until Steve sighed and stopped scrubbing the wall. 

“I went to see a family friend today and I just...something she said...”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now. Not here,” Steve said, with a shake of his head.

“Well, you know where I am if you change your mind,” Bruce said before leaving Steve to it. 

Steve watched him go and then went back to scrubbing the wall. He scrubbed the same design for the next hour and cursed whoever had done it in his mind. It was a pretty elaborate piece of art and if Steve was being honest it was actually pretty good. But the paint the artist had used was an absolute bastard to get off and even though Steve's arm was beginning to ache, he was determined to get every last scrap of it off if it killed him. He wondered what sort of paint had been used and if there was a better way to get it off than just soapy water. He pondered that for as long as he could. Anything to keep what Peggy had said off of his mind. 

“Can we help you buddy or you just gonna stand there and gawk at as all fucking day?” Clint snarked at someone, but Steve couldn't find it in him to care.

“Steve?”

He stopped and shook his head slightly. That voice...he knew it. No. It couldn't be. It was impossible. Steve spun around anyway and stared at the figure standing just off to the side of the group. He looked exactly the same as Steve remembered. Same dark hair, parted on one side. Same slightly upturned nose and perfect mouth. His eyes were slightly different, more haunted then he remembered them being, but the same sparkling shade of blue. He was even dressed exactly as Steve remembered him being when he'd waved him goodbye the last time. Pristine dress uniform with his hat tucked under one arm, tie knotted perfectly, buttons all done up and shining brightly in the sun. 

“Bucky?” Steve whispered and he knew the others were staring between them, trying to figure out what was going on. Why a solider and a young offender where staring at each other like Romeo and Juliet. Something in Steve clicked and he dropped his brush and ran. Bucky met him half way and pulled him into his arms, hugging him tightly. “They said you were dead. They told me you were dead.”

“I know. I know,” Bucky soothed, running one hand through Steve's hair and cupping his face gently. Steve felt his heart stutter in his chest when Bucky kissed him, so softly that Steve ached with it. As first kisses go, it was pretty damn good. 

But something wasn't right. Not just the fact that his supposed dead best friend was standing in front of him like he'd never been away, but more that Bucky had kissed him. 

As much as Peggy would like to insist that everyone knew about Steve's secretly harboured feelings for Bucky, there was no way that Bucky had ever had any idea how Steve really felt about him. And Bucky wasn't the kind of guy to just kiss his best friend out of the blue without wanting to spend hours talking about what it might mean for their friendship first. The kiss was perfect but it was wrong. He pulled away and really looked at Bucky. Most of him wanted to tell his brain so shut the fuck up so he could just enjoy having his best friend home, alive and well, but he couldn't. He stared into Bucky's eyes and even though he couldn't pinpoint what it was, he knew something wasn't right. 

* * * * * * * * * *

“Are we gonna talk about what happened or...?”

“Not now Tony.”

“Really? Who is that guy?”

“Tony,” Clint sighed. “Let it go, man.”

“He's my best friend,” Steve said, slamming his locker shut. “He was fighting in Afghanistan. They told me he was dead. Apparently he's not. Happy?”

“Not really,” Tony said and there was something about the way he said it that made Steve stop and glance over. Tony looked miserable and it was such a strange thing to see on his face that Steve found himself actually feeling sorry even though he wasn't sure what he was supposed to have done. Tony held his gaze for a few seconds before he blinked and looked away. “You don't think it's weird?” Tony asked, “Him showing up out of the blue? I mean, why would they think he was dead if he wasn't? Do they make mistakes like that any more?”

“I don't know, Tony,” Steve said, feeling uneasy because yes there was something very weird about the whole situation. “What other explanation is there?” He watched the others all share a look. “What?”

“You're not gonna like it,” Clint said. 

“What?” Steve demanded. 

“The storm,” Bruce said. 

“You think the storm brought him back?”

“Maybe,” Thor said, with a shrug of his giant shoulders. “Or it gave someone the power to bring him back.”

Peggy. 

“I...er, I have to see someone. Can one of you watch Bucky for me?”

“Seriously?”

“Please?”

“Fine,” Tony said with a sigh. “We'll take him to the bar or something.”

“I won't be long,” Steve said, already half out the door. 

“You better not be,” Tony called out after him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Steve ran all the way to Dugan's, not pausing to say hello to Helen who just stared at him open mouthed as he ran past. He'd apologise for his rudeness later. Right now, he needed to talk to Peggy. He barrelled through the door without knocking and came up short when he came face to face with someone who looked so much like him it was spooky. 

“Steve!” Peggy cried out, the biggest smile on her face Steve had ever seen. “I'm so glad you're here. Steve, this is Edward. Edward, this is Steve the young man I've been telling you all about.”

Steve blinked a couple of times but nothing changed. Peggy hadn't been lying when she said he looked like Edward. It was uncanny and more than a little unnerving. 

“Peggy...how?” Steve asked, not able to get the entire question out but confident Peggy would know what he was talking about. 

“It's a funny story,” Peggy said. “I had the most vivid dream. It was about Edward and your friend, Bucky. I dreamt that they came home, safe and sound, and when I woke up Edward was here!”

Edward smiled down at her, a smile that was brimming with love for the old woman nestled in her blankets and pillows. 

“Isn't it wonderful?” It wasn't really a question but Steve wished he could tell her no, it wasn't wonderful. It was wrong. But he couldn't bear to wipe that smile from her face.

“Bucky came back too,” he said instead and Peggy gave a little gasp of happiness. 

“Oh, my dear, how wonderful!”

“Yeah...Peggy...”

“Yes dear?” Peggy said, not looking away from Edward, her face shining with happiness and love. 

“Nothing...it's fine. I have to go.” Steve left the room without another word, a heavy feeling of dread in his chest. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

“So let me get this straight,” Clint said. “You're not-grandmother-but-like-a-grandmother dreamt that you both got back the guys you love who were dead and poof...both alive and well and acting like it's totally normal?”

“Yeah.”

“So...are they acting different at all?”

“I can't say for Edward. I don't know the guy. But Bucky...”

“What?”

“It's just...the kiss was weird.”

“You never did it before?” Bruce asked. 

“No, never. He never gave any indication he felt that way.”

“But to be fair,” Thor said. “You said you never did either. How do you know you both weren't pining over each other from a distance?”

“You would think Peggy would notice something was up. You said she's pretty sharp and yet she doesn't see anything weird about a guy who's been dead for around seventy years turning up looking exactly the same as when he went off to war,” Bruce said. 

“Love makes people do crazy things,” Thor said. “Like turning a blind eye to the object of your affections being a zombie.”

“Sometimes, Thor, you can be very poetic,” Tony said, his voice devoid of his usual level of snark. “And also, when did we decide they were zombies?”

“Well, what other suggestion do you have?” Clint asked. 

“I miss living in a world where zombies weren't the most likely explanation for shit,” Tony muttered. 

“This is the bar where we all hang out,” Natasha said, her voice carrying over the bar to where they were huddled around a table. She spotted them and pointed them out to Bucky who was looking around the bar with interest. “And here are the rest of the gang,” she said, folding herself elegantly into a chair and shooting Steve a look that said he owed her big time. Bucky stood awkwardly beside her, staring at where Steve was studiously studying the pattern on the table top. 

“Steve? Is something wrong?”

“I don't know,” Steve muttered before pushing himself out of his chair and grabbing Bucky's arm. “We should go. I'll see you guys tomorrow.”

He dragged Bucky out to the car and drove back to his apartment in silence. Once they were inside, Steve made his way straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Nothing. It was totally empty. 

“I haven't got much, but if you're hungry we could order pizza,” he called, before closing the fridge door and jumping out of his skin when he turned to find Bucky standing right behind him. “Bucky...”

Bucky grabbed him and pushed him back against the fridge, crowding against him until he was plastered against Steve's chest. He kissed him fiercely, tangling on hand in Steve's blond hair and gripping his waist tight with the other. Steve freed a hand from where it had become trapped by the fridge and pushed Bucky away forcibly. 

“What the hell is going on?” Steve demanded. Bucky looked at him blankly, head cocked slightly to one side. 

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you acting like this?”

“Like what?”

“Like we're a couple.”

“Don't you want that?”

“That's...that's not the point. It's not what you want.”

“How do you know that?”

“Bucky...I know.”

“Things change.”

“Not this.”

Bucky let out a bark of laughter. 

“Do you enjoy being unhappy, Steve? I'm offering everything you've ever wanted. Take it.”

“No.”

“Why?” Bucky asked, exasperatedly. 

“Because Bucky never knew how I felt. I didn't even know how I felt until he'd gone off to Afghanistan.”

“You mean me. I'm Bucky.”

“Are you?”

“Yes. Jesus, Steve...”

“I don't think you are. Not the real Bucky.”

“Then what am I?”

“I don't know. Some sort of zombie? Or a figment of someone’s imagination brought to life? An echo? I don't fucking know.”

“That's crazy.”

“No crazier than you actually having been brought back to life. It's the storm...the storm keeps fucking everything up.”

Bucky strode towards him and grabbed Steve's hand, bringing it up to rest against his chest so that Steve could feel Bucky's heart beating a steady rhythm. 

“I'm real, Steve. What does it matter how I got here? I'm home, I'm alive and I want you.”

Steve stared into Bucky's eyes and wished he could just kiss Bucky and push all the doubts out of his head. But he knew he never could. He knew in his heart of hearts that the man that stood before him wasn't Bucky and Steve only wanted the real thing. 

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, before rearing his head back and slamming it into Bucky's forehead. Bucky stumbled and Steve took the opportunity to grab an unwashed saucepan from and side and swing it into the other man's temple. Bucky crumpled to the floor, out cold. 

Steve stared down at Bucky, breathing heavily before sighing and throwing the saucepan in the direction of the sink, before bending down and lifting Bucky over his shoulder with a grunt. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

“What do we do with him now?” Tony asked.

“Phil is gonna kill me,” Clint groaned, shutting the storeroom and locking it with Phil's keys. “I've stolen his keys and used them to keep someone prisoner. So not the image I wanted to paint of myself for him.”

“You're a youth offender. He already has an image of you. He still does the dirty with you so he can't find it that repulsive,” Tony said. 

“You're a disgusting man, Tony,” Bruce sighed. 

“Back to the man tied up and locked in the closet,” Natasha said with a roll of her eyes. 

“Right. Steve, what's the plan?”

“I have no idea,” Steve admitted, sinking into one of the plastic chairs. Natasha sat next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. 

“You're sure it's not him?” she asked, gently. 

“How can it be?”

“Anything is possible with this storm,” Thor reasoned. 

“It's not him.”

“That means that Edward guy is probably not the real Edward either.”

“He's not hurting anyone...neither of them are. What are we really doing here?” Bruce asked. 

“I don't know,” Steve practically shouted. “I don't know but that is _not_ Bucky in there. It's not him because he's dead and this is too fucked up for words. I can't look at him. I can't...”

“It's ok,” Thor said, gently. “We understand.”

“Yeah, we understand,” Tony said. “But what do we do?”

They all stared at each other but no one said a word.

As if on cue, a loud banging came from the closet. 

“Let me out of here! Steve, you fucking asshole, let me out of here! I'll rip you're fucking throat out! I'm gonna kill you and all your little fucking friends! I'm gonna tear you apart with my fucking teeth! Steve! Steve, you fuck!”

“Nice,” Tony said, quietly. “Does this count as an extreme reaction? I mean, given we've knocked him out and locked him up.”

“I think it does,” Bruce said over the sounds of Bucky trying to free himself from his prison, still screaming profanities. 

They listened as Bucky's threats petered out until he was just shouting wordlessly, grunting and groaning as he thumped slowly on the door. 

“God, he even sounds like a zombie now,” Thor muttered. 

“Yeah...” 

They all shared a look before Steve jumped to his feet and raced towards the door, Tony and Natasha hot on his heels. 

“We'll go check on Peggy!” Steve shouted. “You guard Bucky!”

“You got it, Cap,” Clint called after him, eyeing the closet door wearily. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

For the second time that day, Steve raced through Dugan's lobby, ignoring the startled Helen and rushing to Peggy's room. He flung the door open and scanned the room. 

Peggy and Edward were gone. 

He turned and pushed past Tony and Natasha, thankfully not catching Tony's skin even though he hadn't even thought about it, and rushed back to the front desk. 

“Where's Peggy?” he demanded. 

Helen stared up at him, looking slightly put out. 

“She went out.”

“What do you mean she went out? She doesn't go out.”

“Well, that nice young man who looks like you wanted to take her for a walk in her chair.”

“Are you crazy? Helen, you're supposed to be looking after her!”

“And we do,” Helen said, getting to her feet and leaning over the counter. “She's in no danger. She asked to go and it's only to the park next door. She's an old woman, Steven, but she's not an invalid and she's perfectly fine in her chair. Now, I think it's best you leave.”

Steve shook his head but said nothing. He ran down the front steps and towards the park. He scanned the dark green and wished he'd brought Clint with him. It was just starting to get dark and Clint's eyesight would have been an advantage. A shrill scream tore through the air and the hairs on the back of Steve's neck stood up. 

“Help!” 

“Peggy?” he cried, recognising the voice. He sprinted in the direction of the scream, not waiting to see of Tony and Natasha kept up. He ran full pelt until he saw them. Peggy's chair lay thrown to one side, one wheel spinning slowly. Peggy herself lay crumpled on the floor, her hands thrown out to defend herself from Edward who was leaning over her, teeth bared. “Peggy!” Edward spun round to face Steve and snarled. He looked so different then before. His eyes were cold, his skin pale, his eyes tinged red and he almost looked to be frothing at the mouth. Steve wondered if Bucky looked like this back at the community centre and then resolutely pushed the thought away. He barrelled towards Edward and rugby tackled him to the ground. Edward managed to flip them and Steve frantically pushed the man snapping jaws away from him, amazed that the man seemed to be becoming more rabid in front of his very eyes. His arms started to buckle and he desperately tried to use his legs to throw Edward off or role them over but Edward had him pinned. He bucked his hips but Edward was just getting closer and closer. 

With a wet thunk, Edward suddenly stilled and then pitched forward. Steve pushed him away and scrambled out from underneath him, staring at the knife sticking out of the man's head. 

“What the fuck?” he gasped, as Natasha strode forward and removed the knife, wiping the blood off on the grass and tucking it back in her boot. “You keep a knife in your fucking boot?”

“Never leave home without it,” she said, shrugging but Steve noticed a slight tremor in her shoulders. 

“You ok?” he asked. 

“Fine. You?”

Steve nodded and then scrambled over to Peggy who was whimpering softly, Tony crouched beside her. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently. 

“It's ok, Peg,” he said, soothingly. “He's gone now.”

He looked up at Tony who, for once, had nothing to say. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Helen fussed over Peggy for a good twenty minutes. Steve had sent Natasha and Tony back to the community centre with Edward's body in the trunk while he took Peggy home. He'd told Helen that Edward had attacked Peggy and then run off when they interrupted him. Helen had been horrified and offered to call the police but Peggy insisted she was fine, just tired, so they had settled her into bed and the Helen had gone back to the front desk. 

Once she was gone, Steve looked down at Peggy who was staring blankly out of the window. 

“Peggy?”

“It wasn't really him, was it?”

“I don't know. Maybe to start with but not in the end.”

“Bucky?”

Steve shook his head. 

“I'm sorry, Steve.”

“What for?”

“I think I did this. I'm not sure how, but I think it was me.”

“Maybe. But it wasn't your fault. You just wanted them back.”

“I wish I knew how I did it. Then I could make sure I never do it again.”

“We'll figure something out,” Steve said, getting to his feet. He leant over and pressed a kiss to Peggy's cheek. “I have to go. Will you be ok?”

“I'll be fine, dear,” Peggy answered with a shaky smile. “Make sure you come visit tomorrow, yes?”

“I'll do my best,” he said, giving her hand a quick squeeze. 

He left and looked back one last time, heart aching to see Peggy looking so lost and alone. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

“I can do it, if you want,” Tony said, softly. 

“No,” Steve said, with a shake of his head. “It should be me.”

“It really shouldn't,” Bruce interjected. “I can try and get Bruce2 out?”

“Or I can do it?” Clint offered but Steve shook his head. 

“I got it,” he said and nodded at Thor who sighed and unlocked the closet, throwing the door open wide. Bucky leapt from the darkness, eyes mad and red, skin pale and flecked with black. Steve didn't give him the chance to attack he simply swung the shovel out with all his might and smashed it into Bucky's head. Once he was down, Steve swung the shovel down again and again until Clint appeared in front of him, grabbed the shovel out of his hands and pushed him away. 

“It's over. He's gone,” Clint said. 

Steve turned and walked away, carefully not looking at his best friend, not looking at what he'd done and trying with all his might not to break down. 

He couldn't stop the tears but he managed to keep them silent.


	5. Episode 5: The Support Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After everything that happened with Bucky, Bruce takes Steve to the support group he's found for people affected by the storm.

Bruce spent a lot of time watching the others. Not in a creepy-stalker kind of way, more in a guardian angel way...or something less dramatic. He'd grown to like this little group of misfits he'd found himself part of and the more he got to know them the more he wanted to protect them. 

Mainly from themselves. 

It was the kind of protecting that Bruce1 could do all by himself without help from Bruce2. No violence, no anger, just talking and advice and helping people through. 

People like Steve, who was currently staring into his beer like he wanted nothing more than to pitch forwards and fall into it's amber depths. Almost a week after what had happened with Bucky and Peggy and no one had been able to get him to talk about it. All they'd managed to get out of him was that Peggy was shaken, but fine, even if the spark in her eyes was gone. He wouldn't say anymore and he'd become cold and distant. Bruce wanted to help him because Steve was a good guy. He'd made mistakes, sure, but overall he was honest, loyal and...good. He'd made you want to be a better person just by being around him and after Bucky the drugs thing made sense. He wasn't dealing, he was looking for a way, albeit a bad way, of escaping from the world where the love of his life had been shot and killed in Afghanistan.

Bruce made his way silently over to where Steve was hunched over the bar and sat on the stool beside him. The others were crowded round one of the tables, laughing loudly at a tale that Thor was regaling them with, all except for Tony who was quieter than he had ever been and kept shooting worried looks over at Steve. Something else that Bruce had noticed and intended to deal with when the time was right. There was clearly something between Steve and Tony, but Steve needed time to cope with Bucky, to mourn him all over again, and Bruce intended to help him do it in a less self-destructive way then he had gone for first time round. 

He slid a flyer across the bar towards Steve whose eyes flickered across to it and then settled back on the bottom of his bottle. 

“I don't think counselling is the way here,” he muttered, so quietly Bruce had to strain to hear him over the noise. “Can't really walk in and say 'Hi, I need help with the fact that I murdered my re-animated best friend'.” 

“Ok, one? You didn't murder him. We didn't have a choice. And two? Here,” he tapped the flyer with his hand. “You actually could. It took me ages to find it but it's support group for the storm. It's where people go to talk about how their coping with their powers or things that have happened because of powers. You can go and talk about Bucky, with other people like us and know that everyone will understand and believe you.”

Steve had switched to staring at the flyer and slowly, he reached out and pulled it closer, a look of genuine interest on his face. 

“I want to go anyway and I could really use someone to come with me. You'd be doing me a favour and if you decide you want to talk about it when we get there, that's great.”

Steve looked up at him and smiled softly. It didn't quite reach his eyes but it was a start. He stood and downed the last of his drink. 

“Next meeting is tomorrow night,” Bruce said. 

Steve nodded, clapped a hand on his shoulder and walked out of the bar. Bruce took it as both an agreement to come and a win. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

After a day of picking up dog shit, Bruce took off his orange jumpsuit and pulled on his sweater before throwing his bag over his shoulder and heading to the vending machine. After much deliberation he selected a can of Mountain Dew and a bag of Sour Skittles. He downed half the can in one and tore open the Skittles, pouring four into his mouth and then pursing his lips as the sour sugar coating hit his tongue. He turned as the door to the locker room opened and Steve came out, zipping up his jacket. Bruce turned back to the vending machine and pressed A4, grabbed the fallen chocolate and threw them towards Steve. 

“Milk duds. They're my favourite,” Steve said softly. 

“I know, Cap,” Bruce said, turning and heading out the doors. Steve caught up and fell instep beside him. 

“Where is this support group then?” Steve asked. 

“Basement level of one of the apartment blocks on the estate.”

“Seems like an odd place.”

“No one goes down there. Best place to go without being interrupted I guess.”

They made their way across the estate to the right building and down to the basement level, where a long corridor lead to a single door, dimly illuminated by one lone flickering bulb. 

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Steve whispered. Bruce reached out and tapped a partially hidden bit of graffiti. A black stencil of a cloud with a bolt of lightening shooting out towards the ground below. 

“Definitely,” he said, before pushing the door open without preamble. 

Inside, the room was only a little brighter than the corridor they had just left and had on odd flickering quality due to two large fans cut into the wall at the rear of the room, large blades steadily turning round and round. There was a circle of plastic chairs in the centre of the room and a table off to one side with drinks and biscuits. About ten people were milling around the room, some talking quietly together, others sat alone looking around the room awkwardly. Perhaps they weren't the only first timers here.

A woman who looked to be in her late twenties marched over to them. She had her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun and was dressed entirely in black. 

“Hi, my name is Maria Hill and I run the support group. Can I take your names?”

“Sure, I'm Bruce and this is Steve.”

She jotted their names down and then stuck a name sticker on them both before brusquely turning away and marching over to the chairs. 

“Everyone, if you'd like to take your seats,” she said, as she took the one almost exactly between the two fans. There were a few moments of scraping chairs and murmurs as everyone took their seats. Bruce and Steve sat in the last two chairs, nearest the door. “We have two new people with us today,” Hill continued once everyone was settled. “Everyone say hi to Bruce and Steve.”

“Hi Bruce. Hi Steve,” the others said dutifully. Bruce nodded and Steve gave a small, awkward smile. 

“So for the new guys, I'll quickly explain how this works. It's not compulsory to share every session, so whenever you're ready to share, go right ahead. Everyone is entitled to talk and no one is to belittle anyone else's power, problem or success. We're in this as a team and if you don't think you can abide by these rules, there's the door.” She paused but no one moved. “Great. So, let's pick up from where we left of last time. Peter, you were going to work on your accuracy, how is that going?”

A young lad of about seventeen leant forward and rested his arms on his knees. He shot a grin and a little wave over at Bruce and Steve. 

“Hey, so, yeah, my name is Peter. My power is kinda weird. I can shoot like, web out of my wrists. Right after the storm it was just like, little gobs of web but now, I can actually fire it out and catch it so I can swing on it.”

“And the accuracy has improved?” Hill asked. 

“Yeah loads. I've been practising on the roof of my apartment block and I can shoot to a target on the opposite roof.”

“That's great,” the older man sat next to Peter said, reaching out to grip his shoulder. 

“Thanks, Jasper.”

“How's your Aunt?” a young woman asked. Her name tag said she was called Darcy.

“She's ok,” Peter replied softly. He turned to look at Steve and Bruce. “My Uncle was killed in the storm. They raised me so...”

“I'm so sorry,” Bruce said. 

“Thank you.”

There was a moment of silence which Hill broke. 

“Anyone else like to share?”

“I'll go,” said Darcy, keeping her arms firmly crossed across her chest. “So the whole hypnotic boob thing was fun at first. I mean, you have no idea the things you can get away with when people can't help but stare at your boobs. And they are majestic, so I get why people would be enthralled by them. But...I went to see my dad and let me tell you, after an hour of your father staring at your chest and not being able to form coherent sentences, you kind of get the message that your power sucks. I can't go see him anymore. It's way too weird.”

“You have hypnotic boobs?” Steve asked, incredulously. 

“Yep. Hence the baggy shirt and the crossed arms. But I can't spend the rest of my life like this. It's literally ruining my life. How is this even a power? Everyone gets cool powers and I'm stuck with mesmeric breasts. How is that fair?”

“Not everyone's power is great,” Bruce said, softly. 

“Would you like to share, Bruce?” Hill asked. 

“Only if Darcy is finished?”

“Oh go ahead, man. I only really wanted to have a rant. Can't exactly solve my problem by talking about it but it's nice to be able to get it off your chest.” She laughed. “Excuse the pun.”

“Ok,” Bruce said with a smile. “My power is messed up. I'm a generally quiet person. I'm fairly shy, I don't really like to go out much and I'm not great with new people. Or...at least I was before the storm. I'm trying to be more assertive and stuff because if not...well...basically if I get angry and I don't 'express my feelings' this psycho version of myself comes out of me and starts beating the shit out of everyone.”

“Holy shit,” Peter said. 

“Yeah...he beat a guy to death and I couldn't stop him.”

“But we're working on it, like Bruce said,” Steve interjected, feeling like he needed to defend Bruce. “He's getting really good at controlling his power. I saw what happened and let me tell you, it was messed up. It was...fuck, it was horrible but it turned out to be the best thing so...”

“How was it the best thing?” a man growled. His name badge read Logan.

“Well, my power is that I can go back in time and change things if I feel strongly enough that I fucked up. I went back and stopped Bruce2 from killing the guy and the guy turned around and killed all our friends. So I went back and let Bruce2 kill him. He was a mad man and the storm had turned him...crazy's not the right word but...”

“Can you control your power? Or is it just when you feel badly about something you've done?” Hill asked. 

“I don't have any control over it. It just happens.”

“Has it happened often?” Logan asked. 

“Not really. I...Bruce, you were sharing,” Steve mumbled looking away. He wasn't here because of his power. He didn't really have a problem with his own fucking power but he wasn't sure he was ready to talk to these people about Bucky yet. 

“Yeah...sure, Steve. Um...like I was saying,” Bruce mumbled. “I'm getting better about keeping Bruce2 contained but it's scary, you know? Knowing he could burst out of me at any time and wreck havoc...”

* * * * * * * * * * *

An hour later, the chairs scraped across the floor again and everyone began to leave. 

“Steve! Bruce!” a man called Hank jogged over to them. “It was good to meet you guys tonight. We hope you can make it next week. If you know of anyone else that might be interested, please give them this flyer and invite them along.” Hank handed them a dozen or so red flyers with the black cloud stencil on the front.

“Thanks,” Steve said. “We'll see you next week.”

They made their way out of the apartment block and across the estate towards the bar. 

“So what do you think?” Bruce asked, as they walked. 

“I think...I think it's actually gonna be a big help.”

“Yeah? That's great, Steve.”

Steve stopped and reached out to grab Bruce's shoulder, forcing him to stop beside him. There was a moments hesitation and then he pulled him into a tight hug. For a second, Bruce was taken aback but then he wrapped his arms around Steve and hugged him back. 

“Thank you,” Steve said pulling away. He continued walking as if nothing had happened and Bruce allowed himself a little smile as he followed. 

They walked into the bar and found the others already there. 

“Where did you two disappear to?” Thor asked. Steve and Bruce shared a look before Steve pulled out the flyers and handed them one each. 

“A support group?” Clint asked, sceptically. 

“It's actually really good,” Steve said. “Everyone is in the same boat and no one judges you. You just go and talk about everything. It helps.”

“We can talk about everything right here,” Tony said, quietly. “Why do we need to go to a bunch of strangers to do it?”

“It's not that, Tony. It's just nice to know we're not alone,” Bruce reasoned. “You should all come along next week.”

“Maybe...” Thor said, sounding unconvinced. 

“I dunno...I'll think about it,” Clint added. 

“Whatever, it's up to you guys what you do,” Steve said, snagging the beer Thor had just put on the bar for him. “I happen to think it's really helpful.” He made his way over to one of the booths and sat down. After a moment, Bruce joined him. 

“Don't mind them, they're just different in how they cope. Support groups aren't for everyone,” Bruce said. 

“I know. But they don't have to be so fucking scornful of it.”

“I don't think they mean to be...”

“Really? You don't think Tony meant to be scornful.”

“Tony's Tony,” Bruce shrugged. “He's worried about you, you know that right?”

“I dunno man...I don't think Tony gives a shit about anyone but himself.”

“You're wrong. He cares about us. He cares about you.”

Steve scoffed and took a drink from his beer. Bruce shook his head but let the matter lie for now. One problem at a time. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

The next week, Steve was surprised when at the end of the day, everyone was waiting for them outside the community centre. 

“You're all coming?” he asked. 

“It's important to you guys so we wanted to give it a try,” Clint said. “We're just waiting on one more person.”

As if one cue, the door to the community centre opened again and Phil emerged. He turned the lights of and locked the door behind him. He'd changed out of his suit into a pair of jeans and a dark sweater and the sight was so strange, Steve shook his head slightly. 

“Ready babe?” Clint asked. 

“Yeah,” Phil replied, pressing a quick kiss to Clint's lips and threading his fingers through Clint's. 

“You two are sickening,” Natasha said, a smile on her lips. 

“What did we do now?” Clint huffed. 

“It's not what you're doing. It's what you're thinking.”

“Well then, get out of our heads Tasha, and you won't have to deal with it,” Phil replied. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa...since when did you two get so pally pally that you get to call her Tasha?” Tony asked. “ _I_ don't get to call her Tasha.”

They ignored him and headed off towards the support group. When they entered, Hill looked up and her eyes widened. 

“Huh...guess we'll need a bigger circle tonight,” she muttered. 

Peter shot out a web and dragged a stack of chairs over to the middle of the room and, together with Logan, began to widen the circle. Hill took all their names and presented them with their name badges and they took a seat. 

“I think we'll do something a little different tonight, since we have so many new people. I want to go around the circle and for everyone to introduce themselves and tell everyone what their power is. We can have more in depth shares afterwards. I'll start. My name is Maria Hill and my power is cryokinesis which basically means I can freeze stuff.”

“My name is Darcy. I have hypnotic boobs.” She shot Tony a sharp look when he opened his mouth. “Yes, you heard correctly.”

“I'm Peter. I can shoot out webs from my wrists...kind of like a weird spider.”

“I'm Jasper. I can...control dairy products.”

“Excuse me?” Thor said.

“It's like a rather specific form of telekinesis.”

“Pretty damn specific,” Thor muttered. 

“I'm Logan. I heal really fast.”

“I'm Hank and I'm a size shifter. I can get as small as an ant and the biggest I've grown so far is about twelve feet but I'm working on getting bigger.”

“I'm Mystique, please don't laugh at my name, and I'm a shape shifter.”

“I'm Charles and I have the power of mind control,” said the oldest guy in the room by a good twenty years. 

“I'm Jean and I can turn things inside out.”

Clint was next and he shot a look at the others before he said anything. 

“I'm Clint and I have...super sight? I have x-ray vision and I can see up to about four miles away at the moment.”

“I'm Phil and I can turn invisible.”

“I'm Natasha. I can read your mind,” Natasha said bluntly. 

“I'm Steve. I can go back in time.”

“I'm Bruce and I have a psychotic version of myself that can climb out of me.”

“Dramatic,” Steve mumbled with a smile that Bruce returned. 

“I am Thor and I can move objects with the power of my mind.”

“Not as dramatic as him,” Bruce said under his breath and Steve bit back a snort. 

All eyes turned to Tony who was staring at his own hands. 

“I am...not doing this,” he said abruptly and got to his feet.

“Tony, wait,” Clint said, standing and chasing after his friend who was already heading for the door.

“I'm not doing this, Clint. This is fucking stupid.”

“It's not stupid,” Darcy shouted out. “I have a fucked up power and this group is the only thing that stops me going fucking crazy.”

“Give it a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised,” Hank said. 

Tony shook his head but didn't move to push past where Clint had stopped in front of him. 

“Come on, man, this might be good for you,” Clint said, gently. 

Slowly, Tony turned and made his way back to his seat. Clint jerked his head at Thor who quickly got the message and moved to take the seat beside Phil so that Clint could sit beside Tony. 

“Ok,” Hill said, drawing all attention to her. “Tony, why don't we let someone share and if you want to share your power later, that's fine.” Tony nodded at the floor, not meeting anyone’s eye. “Who'd like to start us off?”

“I will, if that's ok?” Steve said. Hill nodded and Steve took a deep breath. “I...I don't really have a huge problem with my power. I mean, believe me, if I could switch it for something else I would because it sucks going back in time and knowing that you might just make things worse if you change anything. But...the real reason I came here wasn't because of what my power did but what my friend's power did. Peggy's an old family friend and she's in her nineties so I don't think she fully understands what happened. The storm gave her the power to bring people back from the dead and she brought back my best friend...he...he died last year in Afghanistan and...I...I never told him how I really felt. I think I was in love with him but by the time I realised it, it was too late.” Steve swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat. “When Peggy brought him back, part of me thought it would be the second chance I'd been praying for, but there was something wrong about it all. He wasn't acting like the Bucky I knew. The Bucky I knew was a little fucker. He liked to wind me up and play jokes and he was so fucking protective. I'd known him since we were kids and he always had my back. This resurrected Bucky treated me like...like he loved me. It was everything I wanted but it felt so wrong. He was just acting like it was totally normal for him to kiss me but we'd never done it before and...anyway, in the end he basically turned into a Romero zombie and...fuck.” Steve reached up and wiped a hand brusquely across his eyes, forcing the tears off of his cheeks. “I had to kill him. I had to fucking kill him and...” He stopped with a choked sob. Bruce got to his feet and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Steve clung to Bruce like a lifeline and tried to stop the tears as he buried his face into Bruce's neck. Slowly he realised Natasha had crouched on his other side, gripping his knee tightly while she rubbed a hand soothingly across his back. 

The whole room was silent and when Steve finally pulled back he could see that everyone was looking at him with sorrowful eyes. 

“I'm so sorry, Steve,” Peter said, quietly. 

Steve nodded but found he couldn't make himself speak. He shot Bruce a look that he hoped screamed his thanks. Because even though he was a blubbering mess at that moment, it felt good to talk about what happened. He knew he'd been bottling it up, unsure of how he was supposed to start to grieve but now he felt like he could at least begin. 

“See, this is the main reason I hate my power,” Tony said, his voice barely more than a horse whisper and yet every eye turned to him. “I can't even go over there and hug my friend and help him through his loss because if I do...”

“It's ok, Tony,” Steve said. 

“No, it's not. It's fucked. It's all fucked.”

“Would you like to share what your power is now, Tony?” Hill asked. 

“You know it almost seemed cool to start with,” Tony continued. “Anyone I touch it's like this switch is flicked and they are instantly aroused. Like, I don't even have to have met them before and I touch them and bam, they instantly want into my pants. I thought at the beginning it would be fun, I just kept thinking of all the sex I was gonna have. But after a while you start to realise, if they're not in their right mind...what if they don't actually want to have sex with me? What if it is just my power telling them they do? When does it become rape? I mean, they didn't consent. Did I make them?”

“Tony...” Clint began but Tony continued as if he hadn't heard him. 

“And what if they touch me by accident? What if I don't want it? How am I supposed to know who wants me for me and who wants me because of my power? I can't hug my friend, I can't hold someone's hand, I can't even hand someone something in case we touch. I...I can't...I can't do this...” Tony stood abruptly and ran from the room. 

“Tony!” Clint called and ran after him, but Phil stopped him. 

“Let him go, babe,” Phil said. 

Steve watched Tony go and felt something squirm within him. The room once again was engulfed in silence. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Tony didn't turn up for community service the next day and no one could reach him on his phone. They day passed slowly, hardly a word spoken amongst them until finally, Clint broke the silence by slamming down his brush. 

“This is fucking ridiculous. We need to go find him.”

“Maybe we should give him some space,” Bruce said. 

“Fuck that. You saw the state he was in. We're supposed to be his friends, we can't just leave him.”

“He turned his phone off. Seems clear he doesn't want us around,” Steve said. 

“Yeah? Well, think about this Steve, after Bucky you turned into a right wanker but we didn't abandon you!” Clint shouted. 

“Clint!” Bruce exclaimed. 

“I'm sorry but he did. We accepted it because you'd been through a lot. But you pushed everyone away, you turned cold and hard and if you managed to say more than two words to someone it was normally because you were lashing out. Did we say anything? No. Because we're your friends and we knew you needed to lash out. Same way as when Bruce saw you needed help he took you to that support group. We were there, holding you up and maybe you didn't notice but we were always there. And Tony was the most worried out of all of us. Look, Steve, I'm not having a go. Everyone deals with things differently and that's fine. But we were there for you when you needed us. We have to do the same for Tony.”

Steve stared at Clint and thought back to the first couple of weeks after Bucky. He remembered the way Clint had grasped his shoulder on the first day after it happened. He remembered how Natasha had offered to come over and watch a film with him when he said he wasn't up to going out. He remembered how Thor had given him a beer on the house and offered an ear as was customary of a bartender. He remembered how Bruce had always been there, ready to step in and lead him to the support group as soon as he was ready. 

And he remembered Tony. Tony who had stared at him as if he was made of glass. Tony who had taken Steve aside and expressed how sorry he was for Steve's loss. Tony who had offered Steve a place to stay if he needed to get away. Tony who had sat beside him, handed him a beer and drank with him in silence for two hours and not once showed any sign that he was uncomfortable. 

Steve nodded. “We should find him,” he said, and chucked his brush to one side. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Tony I know you're in there. I can see through walls, man, there's no point in hiding.”

Tony huffed and pulled himself of the couch. He opened the door just in time to see Clint's eyes fade from unnatural blue to their normal shade. He turned away and headed back to his living room, leaving the door open. He sank back into the couch and looked up at the group huddled in his doorway. 

“Wow...the whole welcome party. Don't I feel special,” he grumbled. 

Clint's phone beeped and he winced as he read the text before writing a hasty reply. 

“You should have said something,” Steve said, pushing forward and perching on the edge of the couch.

“What like you did? You didn't want to talk about how you felt after Bucky and I didn't want to talk about how I feel like I'm raping people every time I have sex.”

“Tony...”

“Tell me I'm not,” Tony demanded, staring into Steve's eyes. “Tell me honestly, that what I'm doing isn't just some sort of rape.”

“It's not...”

“You liar,” Tony said abruptly, turning away. 

“Look, you may not think talking is going to help but I'm telling you, the support group has really helped me. Come back next week or if you don't want to talk to them, talk to us,” Steve pleaded. “I want to help Tony. I didn't know you felt like this”

Tony shook his head. 

“How will it help? I wish I could just get rid of my power...then everything would be ok.”

Clint's phone beeped again and he read the message, eyes widening slightly. 

“You may have just got your wish,” he said. “That was from Phil. He's been looking for us.” Clint looked up and stared at Tony. “He thinks he's found someone that can transfer powers.”


	6. Episode 6: The Dealer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang finds someone that deals powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the epic delay! RL has been pretty hectic. I really hope you enjoy the new chapter.
> 
> Also, this is my first time ever writing Tony/Steve and I'm a little worried about it...hope it's not terrible!

“What does that mean?” Tony asked after a moment of silence. “Transfer powers? What is that?”

“It means he can take your power away and replace it with something else,” Clint said, looking at him like he was an idiot. “I don't know how I can explain it any better.”

“For real?”

“Yes, for real. Phil found this guy on the fucking estate of all places and he is literally dealing powers. I don't know how much it costs but...”

“Fuck cost. I've still got one of my dads cards around here somewhere. Fucking asshole's got so much money and so many fucking accounts he doesn't even notice when one goes missing.” Tony pulled himself off the couch and ran a hand through his untamed hair. “Give me half and hour to freshen up and we'll go find him.”

“Whoa, hold on,” Steve said, “Are you sure about this?”

“Am I sure about what?” Tony asked, spinning round to face Steve. “About getting rid of this power? Of course I'm fucking sure.”

“What if the power you get is worse?”

“How could it possibly be worse than feeling like you're raping everyone you touch?”

Steve swallowed and looked away from Tony's desperate gaze. He knew Tony would be so much better off if he got rid of his power. How could he have a relationship with...anyone if he couldn't tell if their desire was real or not. He understood so he didn't really get why he was feeling so hesitant. The idea that there was someone out there that could transfer powers seemed too good to be true and perhaps that was it. The last time something felt too good to be true, Steve had been forced to put down his reanimated best friend so yeah, sue him if he was sceptical and more than a little bit wary. 

One thing he did know was that he wasn't going to let Tony do this alone. 

“Ok,” he said, looking back up at Tony and giving a single nod. “I'll come with you.”

“We shall all go,” Thor said. 

“Yeah, of course,” Bruce said, with a nod. 

“No, I mean, I'm doing this with you,” Steve said, taking a step towards Tony so that he was as close as he could be without touching him. “I'm going to change my power too.”

“What? Why?” Tony said. 

“Because I'm done living in the past,” Steve replied, pushing past everyone and leaving before anyone could say a word. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

They headed back to the community centre where Phil was waiting for them. He pulled Clint into a tender kiss and then slapped him lightly on the arm. 

“Ow! What was that for?” Clint exclaimed. 

“I could lose my job just for dating you and to be honest I wouldn't care very much because your worth it,” Phil said, making Clint smile and scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment. “But when my boss shows up and asks to see my current group at work and I can't find them? That just makes me look incompetent and I refuse to lose my job because of that because...”

“...you're a competent badass, I know. Did you get into trouble?” Clint asked, sounding concerned. 

“Yes, of course I did. But I think I managed to talk my way out of it. If you're going to completely disregard my authority than can you at least do it discreetly.”

“I'm sorry. Phil, I'm sorry,” Clint said.

“Ok, well...we'll talk about this more later...when your friends aren't standing in a huddle staring at us. Plus, Tony looked like he's about to explode.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we fucked up by leaving and we won't do it again and Clint's sorry and we do respect you and it's all good. Can we go now?” Tony babbled and Phil blinked up at him. 

“Sure, let's go.”

* * * * * * * * * *

The place was as nondescript as the rest of the estate, all grey walls and black, metal stairways with a scuffed white door. Phil banged his fist on it twice and they waited as they heard the door being unlocked. It opened a fraction, stopped by the security chain, and a man's eye peered out at them through the gap. 

“We're here to see Fury,” Phil said.

The guy looked him up and down and then went back to staring right into his eyes. 

“Name's Coulson,” Phil continued, with a slight raise of his eyebrows. 

The guy nodded once and then the door slammed closed. A muffled clinking noise announced the removal of the security chain and then the door swung open. The guy was young, with blond hair and a blank face that hid any emotion he may have been feeling. He jerked his head in the universal gesture of 'follow me', turned and headed off down the corridor. 

The group followed him into a large almost empty room. The walls where dark except for two banks of small white drawers built into two of them. The only furniture was a large, metal and glass desk that stood in front of one of the sets of drawers and the three chairs that accompanied it; two in front and one behind, which held an older man with dark skin, a bald head and a scary-ass looking eye patch. He was looking down at the folder in his hands, flicking through a couple of pages of paper inside and didn't acknowledge their presence at all. 

They stood in an awkward line in front of the desk, waiting for...something. Tony looked like he wanted to break the silence but a swift look from Fury's guard dog had his mouth snapping shut. Finally, Fury put down his folder and looked up. 

“Shut the door, Galaga,” he said and then chuckled as the blond rolled his eyes before snapping the door closed and crossing his arms in front of it. “He doesn't like the joke. I think it's funny.” Fury got out of his seat and walked around the desk, leaning back against it and fixing them all with his one eyed glare. “Caught him playing Galaga a couple of years ago when he should have been picking up a package for me...never let him forget it. Can't even remember your real name any more, can I Galaga?”

“No, sir,” Galaga replied, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly.

“I would offer you a seat,” Fury said. “But I don't seem to have enough for you all.” Fury looked at Phil who seemed to tense ever so slightly. “Phil. Been a while.”

Clint's head snapped around to look at Phil whose eyes blinked closed for a fraction to long, almost like a grimace. Clint cocked his head questioningly but Phil stared at Fury resolutely. 

“I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We didn't exactly leave on the best terms.”

“Well you can start making it up to me now then,” Phil said, stiffly. “And help my friends.”

“Right...bit young to be your friends.”

“He's our probation worker,” Tony blurted, practically vibrating with impatience. 

“Oh really?”

“Well, he's also technically Clint's boyfriend and I guess by extension he's becoming our friend. He's already bonding with Natasha...he gets to call her Tasha and everything which is kinda lame since we don't get to do that yet. I swear to God, the three of them are starting their own little clique and that's really not fair because we've all been together since the whole storm thing and then Phil comes waltzing in and...”

“Tony, please, for the love of God...shut the fuck up,” Clint sighed. 

“Sorry. You were being all mysterious and shit with your eye patch and I totally pissed on your parade.”

“Let me guess,” Fury said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You're the one that wants rid of your power.”

“Yes,” Tony said, exasperatedly. “So how about we leave all the history and the reunions until I can actual touch another human being without them wanting to rip my clothes off.”

“Doesn't sound so bad,” Galaga chuckled, with a wag of his eyebrows.

“It is,” Tony said bluntly, face blank and eyes hard. 

“For once, I have to agree with Tony. Can we just do this?” Phil prompted. 

“Ok,” Fury said, looking slightly put out by Phil's tone. “Fine. Let's get this over with. Price is three thousand.”

“Three K? Are you fucking serious?” Clint demanded. 

“It's fine.”

“Do you do an offer for two?” Steve asked. 

“What like a buy one get one free deal? No genius, I'm not fucking Walmart.”

“So do a discount for me,” Phil said, stiffly. “For the six guys you killed.”

The room was filled with a heavy, throbbing silence. Phil and Fury stared at each other, having a conversation without uttering a word. Clint looked between the two of them for a few moments before glancing around at the others, confusion and something that looked a little like fear etched into his features. The rest of the group shared awkward looks and then most of them looked down at the floor, feeling like they were imposing on a very unwanted, emotional reunion. 

“Ok,” Fury said quietly after a very long moment. “I'll do both for three thousand.”

“Brilliant,” Tony said, clapping his hands together. “Do you take card?”

“Do I look like I fucking take card?” Fury said, incredulously. 

“Good point...so I need to go to an ATM.”

“No need,” Phil said, pulling an envelope out of the inside pocket of his jacket. “There's two thousand there. I'll get the other thousand to you by the end of tomorrow. Tony you can pay me back.”

Clint's jaw clenched whilst Fury just took the envelope with a nod. 

“Whose up first?” Fury asked. 

“Oh God, me!” Tony exclaimed, stepping forwards. Steve huffed a laugh behind him. 

“Here's how it works,” Fury said, heading back to his chair and pulling out a folder from his desk drawer. “You have a look at the list of powers I currently have, pick one and I'll take your power and give you the new one.”

“Pretty straight forward. I like it,” Tony said, grabbing the proffered folder and flipping it open. “Ok, I know I defiantly don't want this one. It sounds painful...I'm sorry, does this one say 'the ability to fuck out other peoples powers'?”

“Yes.”

“Ok. No more sex related powers. I've had my fill.”

“Tony...” Clint pleaded. 

“Sorry, sorry....what's Technological Aptitude?”

“It's the ability to possess a high intellect in electronics and technology,” Galaga said, swiftly. 

“So like...a rocket scientist?”

“Sure,” Fury said. 

“I could make anything...like...I would be this amazing engineer? I could be an inventor.”

“Sure,” Fury repeated. 

“Huh. I'll take that.”

“Really?” Bruce said. 

“Oh yeah. My dad's an engineer. He makes most of his money by designing new ways to kill people. Mines, guns, bombs...he gets rich off death and it's one of the main reasons we fell out. So if I had this power, I could design the stuff I always wished he would. Things to help people. Things that people need.”

“Tony, that's great,” Steve said, softly. 

“And then when I'm rich and he's nothing, I can leave him in the dirt just like he did me.”

Tony looked over at Steve who was giving him the puppy dog eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment and Thor quirked an eyebrow at Natasha who simply smirked in response. Tony cleared his throat and looked back at Fury. 

“Let's do this.”

Fury stood up, held out his arm over the desk and gestured for Tony to do the same. He grabbed Tony's forearm and pulled him a little closer, ignoring the way Tony tried to pull his arm away. 

“Don't worry, part of my power is that other powers don't work on me. This might feel a little weird,” he said and then his hand began to glow with a strange green light. Tony grunted but didn't pull away. The light intensified until they all had to shield their eyes. When the light died down Tony was breathing heavily, still clinging onto Fury's arm and staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Is it gone?” he said, voice barely more than a whisper. 

“Why don't you try it out?” Fury replied, with a grin. 

Tony visible swallowed and then turned to where Steve was staring at Tony's hand. Tentatively, Tony held out a hand. For a moment Steve seemed frozen before he held out his own hand. Slowly, so fucking slowly the others thought they might explode with the tension that was filling the air, Steve grasped Tony's hand and gasped.

Tony tried to snatch his hand back, but Steve just clung on tighter.

“Tony...”

“What? Steve? Do you wanna fuck me?”

Steve looked Tony dead in the eye and smirked. 

“Not right now,” he said with a shrug and then pulled Tony into a hug. Tony froze for a moment and then let out a shaky laugh, wrapped his arms around Steve and squeezed him tightly. His shoulders shook slightly and Steve pulled him even closer, making soothing noises and rocking Tony gently. After a while, Tony pulled away and brushed a hand brusquely over his face. 

He let out a loud relieved laugh and then grabbed Clint and pulled him into a fierce hug, which made Clint laugh and clap him on the back. With a roar, Thor grabbed them both and lifted them slightly off the ground. Suddenly, it became a massive bundle and all six of them where hugging like they had never hugged before, just so relieved that Tony didn't have to live with his curse anymore. After a while, Tony pulled out of the jumble of limbs and offered a hand to Phil who shook it with a smile. 

“This is beautiful. Just beautiful, but I don't think we're quite done,” Fury said. 

“Right, right. Sorry,” Tony rambled and took Fury's hand again. Again, Fury's hand began to glow, this time with a white light that shone even brighter than the green. Quicker than before, the light faded away and everyone looked at Tony who had his eyes screwed shut. 

“Tony?” Steve said gently.

“This is fucking amazing. It's like...I see the world in a whole new way,” Tony said. “I bet my dad's never even thought of some of the things I can imagine a few fucking seconds.”

“Great. He's gonna be even more insufferable, you do realise that, right?” Bruce said with a wink. 

“You're up, Cap,” Natasha said, pushing Steve forward.

“Here's the list. Choose wisely,” Fury prompted. 

Steve stared at the list for a few moments and then nodded to himself. He pointed to what he wanted and held his hand out expectantly, only to pull back slightly before Furry could grab his arm. 

“We haven't got all day, so how about you do mine altogether.”

“Of course, no problem, _Cap_ ,” Fury replied before snatching his arm. The green light began to glow, steadily growing to that blinding glare before the colour changed to white and Steve let out a yelp. 

“Steve?” Tony said, sounding alarmed. 

“I'm good,” Steve replied, but his teeth were clenched. 

Finally the light diminished and Fury released his arm. Steve tumbled slightly and then gave himself a shake. 

“There's a reason I normally leave a break but I guess with your new power it shouldn't hurt so bad.”

“What's the power?” Bruce asked, cautiously. 

“Well, looks like you've got your very own super soldier,” Fury quipped. “I'm assuming they call you Cap because you were in the army?”

Steve simply stared at him and said nothing, not letting the man know he was wrong. 

“Super fast, super strong and a little healing thrown in. Basically, he's physical perfection. The thing scientists and health freaks have been striving for for decades. Don't let anyone turn you into a science experiment, son.”

“I don't really like you much,” Steve snapped. “You're a bit of a douche.”

“That's the real world, kid, get used to it.”

“Thanks for your help. You got your money so I guess we'll just be on our way,” Bruce said, swiftly, already pushing the others out of the room. “Steve, maybe when we get back to the bar we can talk about not trying to entice men who have been known to kill into a fight?”

* * * * * * * * * *

“I can't believe I can fucking touch people,” Tony said, scribbling furiously on the notepad he'd managed to snag from behind the bar. Thor place another drink in front of him and he absent mindedly took a swig before going back to what looked to be blue prints but for what, none of them could tell. “It's amazing. I forgot how nice it is. Jesus, listen to me, I sound like I’ve been touch starved. I guess in a way I was. Too much bad touch. Not enough...no, I'm not going to ramble on about how I missed having a hug. I am not that fucking sad.”

“Tony...”

“And this new power is fucking amazing. So many ideas. I gotta get some down. This right here, this could be the ticket to not just a huge amount of wealth but finally sticking it to my fucking dad.”

“Tony..?”

“What?” Tony demanded looking up and then realised that the bar was practically empty. Thor was looking at him with a curious facial expression and Tony realised it wasn't just empty, it was closed. Thor had cleaned the entire bar except for the corner Tony had tucked himself away in and the only other person besides him and Thor still left was Steve. “Err...hey Point Break, where did everyone go?”

“Clint and Phil left ages ago. They were tucked away in the booth at the back for a good hour and it looked like they were arguing. Guess they went to do it in private. Clint looked pretty pissed when they left. Natasha and Bruce left about an hour ago. Don't worry, you waved at them as they went out the door. The bar shut about fifteen minutes ago and I want to go home,” Thor said quickly and Tony blinked. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, exploding into activity and grabbing all the bits of paper he hadn't even realised he had spread over the bar. He stuffed them all into his pocket and jumped down from the stool. “So, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow? Better get there early, don't want to get Coulson into any more trouble than he already is, right?” Tony chucked and then waved. “Night!” he called as he left the bar. 

The door opened again almost as soon as it swung shut behind Tony and Steve followed him into the cool night air. 

“Hey, Tony! Wait up,” Steve called and Tony turned to look at him. “Mind if I walk with you?”

“Sure,” Tony replied, easily and they fell into step beside each other. 

For a while they were silent but it wasn't awkward, more...companionable. With the power gone, so was a huge weight on Tony's shoulders and he suddenly felt like a normal human being again. A normal guy who could walk along with his friend in silence without it becoming awkward. Who could maybe reach over and take his friends hand in his. Who could maybe catch the way said friend's breath hitched. And maybe, just maybe, said friend would grab him and turn them until they were pressed against the nearest wall. 

“Steve,” Tony breathed, making it sound like a question and yes, Steve was pressing him into the wall but he wasn't doing anything else and Tony wasn't sure if he was relieved about that or not. There was no power making either of them do this. No power to blame for the fire in Steve's eye or the way his hand reached up to card gently through Tony's hair. 

Slowly, as if giving Tony every opportunity to push him away, Steve leant forward and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. He pulled back slightly so that their lips were still almost touching and stare into Tony's eyes. 

“Tony?” he said, and placed a hand carefully on his hip and fuck Tony wasn't going to break. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about this. A lot. Hell, he'd rubbed one out to almost this exact scene but he'd never thought Steve would be interested and he refused to take advantage with his old power. He'd done it once by accident (and the memory of that kiss had played a very important part of most of his fantasies) but he refused to do it willingly. 

But now...now he knew Steve wanted him and he damn sure knew he wanted Steve. 

With that thought in mind, he surged forward and kissed Steve like his life depended on it, wrapping his arms around Steve's neck and smiling when Steve kissed him back just as passionately. Oh God this was happening. It was actually fucking happening. He let out a yelp he would deny until his dying day when Steve hooked an arm under Tony's knee and lifted him off the ground, forcing Tony to wrap his legs around Steve's waist, just in case he fell and wouldn’t that be embarrassing.

“My apartment is literally a block away,” Tony mumbled against Steve's lips. “And I have a very comfy bed.”

Steve stilled and then lowered Tony to the floor. 

“I don't know, Tony...maybe this isn't such a g...”

“Shut the fuck up,” Tony said forcefully and grabbed Steve's face, kissing him hard enough to bruise. “Don't fucking do that. Don't second guess this. I've wanted this since the moment I met you but I don't express myself well. I pull pigtails like I'm in high school, so sue me. I never said anything before because of the power and I wasn't sure you actually liked me and all that shit and Jesus...please just...don't say this is a bad idea...”

“I was just gonna say maybe it isn't such a good idea to fuck before we've even had our first date.”

Tony blinked up at him. 

“You want to date?”

“Are you seriously saying you don't? Because that little speech...”

“Shut up. Yeah, ok...we can date.”

“Great, thanks,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. “We should...”

“We should head back to mine for blow jobs and/or hand jobs.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully and heaved a sigh. 

“Yeah...yeah we should do that.”

* * * * * * * * * *

They practically crashed through Tony's front door, Steve managing to swing it shut with his foot without breaking the kiss. He palmed Tony through the front of his jeans and chuckled at the moan it tore out of him. Fumbling slightly, Tony opened the door to his bedroom and dragged Steve through the doorway and across the room until they tumbled down onto the bed. 

Tony pushed at the leather jacket Steve was wearing until Steve got with the programme and ripped it off, tearing his grey Henley off with it and flinging it across the room. Tony let his mouth drop slightly at the expanse of golden, toned flesh in front of him and then pulled his own shirt off whilst pushing up so that he was kneeling in front of Steve. He wound his fingers into blond hair and pulled slightly as he kissed him again, swiping his tongue over Steve's lips and deepening the kiss as soon as they parted. He carefully mapped the inside of Steve mouth, letting their tongues tangle together and then he began to grind his hips against Steve's. 

Steve groaned and pulled away, nipping and kissing his way across the stubble on Tony's jaw and then laying a trail down Tony's neck, pushing him backwards until Tony gave up and toppled backwards letting the 'super soldier' straddle his thighs as he kissed his way down Tony's chest. 

Tony was already panting, already harder than he'd ever been in his fucking life and Steve was playing with him. He threw his head back when Steve stopped at the waistband of his jeans and then licked a stripe all the way back up to his left nipple, sucking it into his mouth and twirling his tongue around the nub before biting it gently. 

“Oh my fucking God,” Tony gasped and rocked his hips up. Steve chucked, his breath ghosting over Tony's skin and Tony had never hated or loved the guy as much as he did in that moment. Steve carried on kissing his way down Tony's chest and this time when he reached his jeans, he flicked open the button and began to remove the denim which Tony quickly helped with by lifting his hips. Steve took hold of his jeans and boxers and tore them off in one clean motion and there was no fucking way that was actually possible. Tony has never had sex where the removal of clothes hadn't been at least a little clumsy, feet getting caught or jeans turning half inside out and getting stuck half way down...that was normal. Being so fucking perfect was not. All thoughts as to whether Steve being super human meant he was now super good at removing clothes flew out of his mind when Steve swallowed him down in one, single motion and Tony screamed. Because FUCK. Steve hadn't given him any warning, hadn't eased him into it with a little gentle sucking and kissing. No. He'd gone straight for deep throating and how was Tony supposed to last longer than ten seconds if the idiot was gonna do that. “Steve...Steve...fuck...”

Steve swallowed around him and Tony's back arched, fingernails digging into his palm as he fought off his pending orgasm. Not yet. Not fucking yet. He reached forward and tugged at the golden head in his lap until Steve cam up for air. 

“No gag reflex huh?”

Steve shrugged as if to say _apparently not_ and then licked a stripe up Tony's dick and sucked the head back into his mouth. 

“Fuuuuck,” Tony growled and let his hand rest on the back of Steve's neck as he began to bob his head up and down, alternating between hard sucks and tracing patterns with his tongue. Tony couldn't stop the tiny thrusts of his hips but Steve simply hummed in approval and let Tony do it. “Steve...Steve I'm gonna...” he ended the sentence with a wordless howl as Steve took him all the way down again and swallowed and Tony came straight down Steve's throat. 

He flopped back onto the bed, gasping for breath as the strength of his orgasm tore through him. He gestured a hand in the general direction of Steve who laughed and climbed up on the bed to lie beside him. 

“Give me a second and I will totally return the favour.”

“No need.”

“Huh?” 

Steve took hold of Tony's hand and guided it down the wet patch on the front of his boxers. 

“Ok...one when did you lose your jeans? Two...did you just come in your pants?”

“I took them off just after I took of yours and don't flatter yourself, I gave myself a hand.”

“Why? I would have done...”

“I know but to be honest...I was kinda enjoying myself.”

“You're ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously good at blowing you? Yeah, I am.”

“I like this version of you,” Tony said with a laugh. “You sassy fuck.”

“I like this version of you, too,” Steve said softly and pulled Tony into a tender kiss. Tony's heart stuttered in his chest and resolutely ignored it. 

Steve Rogers did not just make his fucking heart miss a fucking beat.

* * * * * * * * * *

“I never said I wanted to know everything about your past, Phil. But when you took us to see Fury, wasn't there a little tiny part of you that thought you should share with me, your boyfriend, that you fucking knew him? That he'd murdered people?”

“Clint...”

“I mean...you know everything about me. I've told you things I've never told anyone.”

“Clint, please...”

“I told you that I'm only here because I took the fall for Barney. I told you about my dad beating the shit out of me. I told you about the orphanage and about the fucking...abuse. I told you ever dirty, sordid little secret about me and you couldn't even tell me this?”

“Baby...”

“Don't! Don't you fucking dare! How do you know him? Who were the six people he killed?”

“We've been arguing about this for hours...”

“Yeah and you still haven't told me a fucking thing. Don't you trust me?” Clint stared at Phil, angry and hurt, and Phil said nothing. “Who are you?” he whispered, voice breaking slightly at the end. 

Phil said nothing. He stared back at Clint, eyes haunted and scared. He reached out for Clint but Clint backed away. 

“Who the fuck are you, Phil?” 

“I can't...I can't do this right now. Clint, please...”

Clint nodded and their were tears in his eyes and fuck, Phil didn't mean for this to happen. Not like this. 

“I'll be at Tasha's. Stay away. Just...for now..stay away, Phil,” Clint whispered and then he was gone and Phil was left standing alone in his living room feeling like he'd lost everything.


	7. Episode 7: The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a party at the community centre and everyone's invited. The gang learn that powers and drugs don't mix that well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has been so long coming. I'd been looking forward to writing this chapter the whole time but when it came down to it, I really struggled and so I'm not sure how I feel about it tbh. I'm really hoping it's not awful and that anyone still reading enjoys this part.

Clint slammed the locker with a bang that echoed through the room. No one said a word. Everyone averted their gaze because Clint's mood was foul and he'd already ripped Bruce a new one just for asking if he was alright. When he marched out of the locker room the others followed, leaving a safe distance between them, only Natasha daring to venture closer. Phil was no where to be seen but there was a bunch of refuse bags and litter pickers in the hall so they grabbed them and headed out. 

They worked in silence for almost two hours before a shout made them all turn and look towards the river. A teenage girl was strolling along the railing, waving over at them, a dog tugging her forward, tail wagging furiously as it strained at the leash and yelped excitedly. 

"Clint!" she called. Clint dropped his things and thrust his hands in his pockets, before striding off towards the girl. 

"Hey Katie," he said. 

"How many times? It's Kate, not Katie." She looked Clint over and cocked her head to one side. "How you doing?"

Clint bent down and held a hand out to the dog who immediately began to lick his palm and fingers, straining to get closer to Clint until Kate relented and let the leash slack enough that the dog could scramble half up Clint's lap, tail wagging furiously. 

"Hey Pizza Dog," Clint said, still ignoring Kate's question. 

"His name is Lucky," Kate said with a roll of her eyes that looked almost painful. 

"Lucky is a stupid name for a dog."

"No it isn't. It's a standard dog name. Pizza Dog is a fucking stupid name for a dog."

"Well, he seems to like it, don't you P-Dog?" Lucky barked once and Clint chuckled. 

"So I guess we're not gonna talk about it then?" Kate said after a while. 

"Leave it, Katie. What's done is done."

"I keep telling him to call you."

"I don't want him to call me."

"He's your brother. You guys can fix this."

"I don't have a brother and no offence, Katie, but you don't even know why I can't even stand the sight of him right now."

Kate sighed but let the matter lie. She looked past him towards the rest of the group, who were stood close enough to hear even as they pretended to still be working. 

"Listen, I'm having a party at the community centre tomorrow night. It's gonna be a blacklight party and it's gonna be amazing. You should come, ok? Bring your friends. It would be good to spend some time with you and before you ask, no Barney won't be there."

"I'll think about it," Clint said, a ghost of a smile passing over his face, standing up straight again. 

"Be there," Kate said, poking a finger in his chest before smirking and walking away, Lucky glancing back at Clint for a few moments before pulling Kate forward again. 

Clint made his way back to the others and stared at the ground. 

"So, I've been a total jackass this morning. Let me make it up to you?"

"If by making it up to us you mean taking us to that party, then yes, you are forgiven," Tony said, with a grin. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Phil cornered him the next day, just as they were heading home. They were heading over to Tony's to have a few drinks there before coming back for the party when Phil literally materialised beside Clint and stopped him with a hand on his arm. 

"Clint, can we talk?" he said, softly, ignoring the death glare that Natasha was sending his way.

"I'll meet you guys at Tony's," Clint said, and then shot Natasha a look that said _go already, I can handle this_ when she didn't move. Once they were alone, Phil ran his hand down Clint's arm until he could link their fingers together. For a second, Clint allowed it before he pulled his hand free. "What do you want, Phil?"

"I want to fix this," Phil replied, earnestly. 

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?" Clint looked Phil square in the face and saw the hesitation. "No, I didn't think so. Do us both a favour, Phil, and don't pull shit like this until you're ready to man up and tell me the truth." Clint made to walk away but Phil grabbed his am and spun him round so they were facing each other. 

"Why do I have to tell you every little thing about my past? Why do you need to know every tiny detail of my life?"

"Funny, I thought people in relationships shared shit like that. You know, telling each other all the bad shit from their past, trusting each other enough to open up. I did that for you. I told you everything and I stupidly thought you would do the same."

"Clint, please, you don't understand."

"No. I don't understand because you won't tell me anything."

"Look," Phil said and then stopped. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. For a long moment neither of them spoke until Phil looked up and spoke so quietly Clint almost missed it. "I'm scared that if I tell you, you'll leave."

"Phil...just tell me," Clint said, stubbornly. 

"I...I can't," Phil said and looked away. Clint nodded, jaw set and walked away. 

 

* * * * * * * * * *

"So what did he say, exactly?" Thor shouted over the music. 

"Does it matter? He still won't tell me. He still won't trust me. I mean, Jesus, how bad can it be?" Clint shouted back. The beat pounded through his body, his very bones seeming to vibrate with the bass and he could barely make himself heard over the noise that roared through the community centre. It was packed with bodies, all gyrating in time to the music, the DJ enticing them on with frantic arm movements that made them scream in approval. Steve and Tony had disappeared into the crowd, probably dry humping each other to the music, Bruce had gone to the little boy's room and Thor, Clint and Natasha had found a corner to huddle in and try and hold a conversation. 

"He will tell you when he's ready," Thor reasoned. 

"Will he?" 

"Look, we are supposed to be having a good time. This is a fucking party isn't it?" Natasha shouted. "So let's get wasted and have a good fucking time."

"How drunk are you?" Clint asked, with a slightly startled laugh. 

"Please. I'm Russian. We don't get drunk."

Suddenly Kate flopped down beside them, looking hot and a little dazed. 

"You don't get drunk? Bummer," she rooted around in her purse and produced a little plastic bag. "Can Russians get high?"

"Yeah, sure," Natasha said. 

"Good. Here," she tipped out three pills into her hand and offered them to the group. "I'm not gonna have anyone say my party was shit because they couldn't get buzzed."

Natasha eyed the pills suspiciously for a few moments before taking one. Kate thrust her hand towards the two men until they followed suit and then motioned for them to take them. 

"They're great," she reasoned. "I promise! Only the best high for my party."

Natasha and Clint shared a look, each daring the other to take their's first before grinning and swallowing them at the same time. Thor was about the follow suit when Kate's hand shot out and grabbed his bicep. 

"Sweet baby Jesus!" she yelped "We need to get this shirt off and get some paint on you because I _need_ to see _all of that_ glow in the dark." Thor laughed loudly and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. He yanked the t-shirt he was wearing off over his head and laughed harder when Kate's jaw dropped open. "This guy needs to get painted," she hollered, dragging Thor off into the crowds. 

"Typical," Clint said, with a shake of his head. "I gotta take a leak, you be ok?"

Natasha replied with an eyeroll and nothing more. 

There was no one in the bathroom and Clint wondered briefly where Bruce had got to. He took a quick piss and was washing his hands when the bathroom door opened. Clint looked up into the mirror to find Phil staring back at him. They held each other's gaze for a second before Clint looked down and turned off the tap. 

"What are you doing here?" Clint asked. 

"I had to find you. I had to tell you that I'm sorry and that I'm a coward. I want to tell you Clint, I just don't want to lose you."

"You're not gonna lose me," Clint sighed. 

"I feel like I already have," Phil said softly and Clint wanted to pull him into his arms but he knew if he did that, Phil might never actually tell him anything and Clint was tired of lies and half truths. He just wanted someone to be honest with him, just once he wanted someone to trust him enough to tell him the fucking truth, was that such a bad thing? 

"Phil...look, I get it. You're worried I'll look at you differently. I was worried too. I thought you'd never want to touch me again after I told you about...after I told you about my childhood." Clint sighed and ran a hand across his suddenly aching eyes. "I thought you'd run but you didn't and I won't either. Just give me a chance to prove I'm worth your trust." 

"Clint, baby, I know you're worth my trust. God. I'm more worried then when you know what I did, you'll see I'm not worth yours."

Clint leant back against the sink and pressed the palm of his hand into his eye. They were starting to itch and when he blinked, dots danced in front of his eyes. 

"I don't know if this is the time for this conversation," he said, finally. "Because I just took something and I'm pretty sure I'm high."

Clint steeled himself for disapproval, maybe anger. Phil may be all kinds of shady at this moment in time, but Clint was still pretty certain that he was a guy that didn't approve of drugs. 

"What did you take?" Phil asked, and Clint hadn't been expecting the worry in his voice.

"I think it was ecstasy."

"You _think_? Are you seriously saying you took something without knowing what it was?" Clint shrugged and closed his eyes against the weird burn that was going on with his eyelids. "Ok, baby, don't freak out. Ecstasy...it messes with powers."

"What do you mean?"

"It reverses them."

Clint feel silent and opened his eyes. 

He couldn't see a fucking thing. 

The world was dark, blank, empty. He put a hand out and couldn't see a thing. No slightly lighter patch of dark moving through the pitch black. No tiny gleam of light off the ring on his finger. Just pure, unhindered, black. 

"Oh fuck," he whimpered, and reached out blindly for Phil who caught his arm and pulled him close, steadying him against his chest. "Phil...fuck, I can't see."

* * * * * * * * * *

They tumbled into Phil's office, the door slamming shut behind them.

Clint was freaking the fuck out, breath coming in short painful gasps, hands shaking and knees weak. He hated the dark, hated not being able to see what was going on around him. It made him feel vulnerable, open to attack. 

It reminded him of the basement. 

The basement with the old army trunk which was totally empty but had a heavy padlock on it all the same. He spent his childhood, terrified of that trunk, knowing that one wrong word, or even a look his father didn't like, and his tiny little body would be subjected to his father's wrath in a rain of blows, before he was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the basement, thrown into the trunk and locked inside. He could remember the terror of the dark, wondering if there was enough air to survive or if this time his dad would just leave him to starve or suffocate, which ever came first. 

He remembered clawing at the lid, trying desperately to force the lock even though he knew it was pointless. There was no way he would ever be strong enough to break that padlock but it didn't stop him from trying. 

Fuck, he really hated the fucking dark. 

Even though Clint was mad at him, he was glad Phil was there. His hand was warm where it gripped Clint's arm, grounding him to the present and pushing the memories away. His voice was soft and soothing in his ear, telling him he was ok, it would pass, he wouldn't be in the dark forever. He allowed himself to be pushed down onto the small couch and concentrated on taking deep, even breaths. 

"That's it. Well done, Clint. You're doing great," Phil said, and from the way he was now rubbing a hand over Clint's knee in little circles, Clint guessed he was crouched in front of him. He could almost picture the concerned expression that was no doubt causing his eyebrows to draw together above sympathetic eyes, whilst his lips were pressed into a thin line. "That's good. I need you to tell me who else took the drug. Clint? Who else has taken ecstasy?"

"I don't know...Tasha took it at the same time as me and Thor had a pill but I never saw him take it. Kate was just handing them out. I don't...I don't know who else took one."

"Ok. Clint, listen, I have to go and find Natasha and the others..."

"What? No, Phil..."

"I have to make sure they're ok and make sure no one else takes it."

"Phil, do not fucking leave me here!"

"I don't want to, you know I don't, but I have to make sure they're alright." Clint felt Phil shift and his warmth was gone. He shot out a hand but he couldn't find him to grab hold of. "I promise I won't be long."

"Phil! No, don't..."

"I'm sorry. I promise, I'll be back before you know it." Clint heard footsteps and a creak as the door opened. 

"Phil!" he yelled. "Please, Phil, don't fucking leave me!"

The door slammed shut and Clint was alone in the darkness once more. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Phil ran to the main hall, turning himself invisible as he went. The last thing he needed was for a bunch of intoxicated twenty-somethings seeing a forty year old guy in a suit come charging in. They'd probably think he was complaining about the noise or some shit and he didn't have time to deal with that right now. He just needed to grab Tasha and the others and get back to Clint. 

He pushed the door open just enough to slip through and then just let it fall shut by itself. It was so dark and loud in the hall that no one would have noticed it anyway. He pushed his way through the throng of bodies, marvelling at the fact that no one seemed to notice they were being pushed aside by supposed thin air. He found Thor and Bruce dancing with a couple of very pretty brunettes and managed to feel slightly bad when Bruce jumped a mile in the air when he grabbed his arm. 

"It's Phil. Where's Natasha, Steve and Tony?"

"Um, I don't know. What are you doing here?" Bruce shouted, the girl giving him a strange look. 

"Who are you talking to?" she asked, glancing over Bruce's shoulder and actually straight at Phil, although she couldn't see him. 

"Excuse me, I have to...I have to go outside for a second."

"Are you ok?" 

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. It was lovely to meet you." Bruce grabbed Thor and pulled him closer whispering something in his ear. 

"My deepest apologies, Jane," Thor bellowed. "My friend and I need to step outside." Thor grabbed the woman's hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I will see you again."

"You have my number," she said, grinning. 

"Here," the other girl said, grabbing Bruce's hand and producing a pen with a flourish from her bag. She scrawled something on the back of his hand and then smiled up at him. "Now you have my number too. Call me."

"I will," Bruce said with a blush. He looked down at his hand and grinned at the way she's put a tiny heart at the end of her name, Betty. 

"That's great," Phil said. "Well done for scoring phone numbers. Now lets grab the others."

"Where's Clint?" Bruce asked. 

"In my office. Where did you last see them?"

They find Steve and Tony in a corner, rutting against each other like there isn't a hundred people surrounding them. 

"Hey! Knock it off!" Phil said, materialising right beside them and making Tony squawk and jump back like he'd been burned. "Where's Natasha?"

"I don't fucking know! Jesus, you scared the shit out of me," Tony yelled. 

"I found her," Thor said, running up. Phil hadn't even noticed he'd split from the rest of them. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Natasha said, abruptly. "The ecstasy is fucking with our powers and reversing them or something. Phil and Clint are arguing because Phil won't just man up and tell Clint he used to be a mobster. Steve and Tony were about ten seconds away from coming in their pants when you lot came over. Bruce never told any of us but he's on community service because he set fire to the car of a guy that was bullying him at work and they wanted him to see a psychiatrist over it. Thor has way to many inappropriate thoughts about my breasts but right now he's thinking about bending that Jane girl over a table. Phil is worried that he's too old for Clint and, let's face it, he's probably right. But hey, the heart wants what the heart wants and I'm pretty sure Clint is my best friend and I want him to be happy but also I was really pissed when he told me he was gay because I totally wanted to get in his pants."

They stared at her with open mouths and she seemed to suddenly realise what had just come tumbling out, clapping her hands over her mouth and staring at them with wide eyes.

"You want to get in Clint's pants?" Phil said after a long moment. 

" _That's_ what you're focussing on? Really?" Tony said. "Not the part where she outed you as ex-mafia?"

" _Were_ you in the mafia?" Steve asked.

"What? No...not...not really. Look, this is really a conversation I should have with Clint first. Natasha...I'm guessing the reversal of your power is just say everything that comes into your fucking head?"

They all shared another wide eyed look and then bundled her out of the room and towards Phil's office. There was a lot of shit that really shouldn't be said in a room full of people. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Clint sat on the couch and tried to calm the panic attack he could feel brewing in his chest. He was being stupid. Phil had told him that it was only temporary and that once the drug wore off, his sight would come back good as new. 

It didn't make the here and now any easier though. He was trapped in the dark, alone, with only the sound of his rushing heartbeat and his panicked breathing. Phil would be back soon, he reminded himself, with the others in tow and they would cope until the drug was out of their system. It was going to be ok. 

The click of the door opening was like a gunshot in the quiet. 

Clint's head jerked upwards.

"Phil?" Silence answered him and Clint swallowed nervously. "Who's there?" he demanded, forcing his hands to stop shaking by clasping them tightly in his lap. He hated feeling like this, hated the fucking memories and the fear turning him into a shivering coward. 

Quiet footsteps crossed the office and Clint could sense someone coming to a stop before him. He held his breath and the silence thudded in his ears, no longer broken up by his harsh breathing. 

"Hello Clint," a voice he knew well said, softly. 

His heart froze in his chest for a moment before beginning to beat hard enough to tear through his ribcage, anger flooding through the blood in his veins. No. Kate said he wouldn't be here. Why had she lied to him?

"Barney," he hissed and suddenly his fear was forgotten, replaced by a burning hatred. He surged to his feet, instinct guiding his fist to his brother's face before he'd even finished deciding to hit him. He heard Barney staggerer back a single step, before hands came up to wrap around Clint's wrists, forcing his arms down by his sides. 

"Clint, stop! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What is your problem, man?" Barney sighed. "Why did you stop returning my calls? Why are you avoiding me?"

"What?" Clint said, honestly confused for a moment at the honesty he could hear in his brother's voice. "Do you not remember what you did?"

"Look, I'm grateful you took the fall for me and I'm getting my life back together like I promised. I'm off the drugs, I don't hang out with Jacques any more...I've even had a couple of job interviews. I'm really trying to make this right, to make up for whatever the fuck I did, but I can't do that if you won't talk to me."

If Clint could see, he would be staring at his brother like he'd grown another fucking head. 

"You can't make this right. You can't bring mom back."

Clint felt the tension in Barney's body and the grip tightened around his wrists. 

"How do you...?"

"You told me you fucker. After I took the fall for you, you came to see me, drugged out of your fucking mind and told me everything. How you cut the brakes on their car and let them saunter off in it without a care in the fucking world."

"Shut the fuck up," Barney hissed, shoving Clint into the wall, one hand pressing into his throat. Yeah, this was the Barney Clint knew. "Don't you ever say that again. Mom's death...that was an accident. Collateral damage. I didn't know she was going to be in the car...if I'd known..."

"You still would have done it."

"Maybe. I had to get him out of our lives, Clint. I couldn't stand by and let him hurt you any more."

"So you did it for me?"

"Of course I did," Barney said, voice turning softer as his hand loosened. 

"Fuck you, Barney. You didn't do it for me..."

"Fine, I did it for _us_! We were just kids, we didn't deserve that shit. The beatings, the trunk...the gropings..."

"Shut up!" Clint roared and shoved Barney hard in the chest. "Stop fucking talking."

"It won't make it go away if we don't talk about it."

"Yeah, well killing him didn't make it go away either. If it was just him, I could forget it, hell I'd fucking celebrate and dance on the asshole's grave. But mom...Barney, you fucking killed her. She was innocent, she protected us and you're so fucked up in the head, that you didn't even think twice about letting her get in that car. You knew what was gonna happen and you just let her get in it with him and drive away. And what did their deaths get us? Stuck in the system, passed from pillar to post...if' I'd known at the time it was your fault, I would have left there and then."

"Clint, you have to let me make this right."

"I don't have to let you do a Goddamn thing. 

"You don't understand," Clint felt a cool hand rest on his arm. "You have to forgive me."

All the hatred in Clint seemed to suddenly disseapear, flowing out of him through his arm and into the coolness of Barney's palm. Every negative thought he'd ever had about Barney trickled out of him with it leaving only the adoration he'd felt as a child, looking up at his big brother who stepped in front of his father's falling fists, who held Clint's hand tight whilst he raged to reassure him he wasn't alone and slid into the bed beside him when the man finally left their room at night, holding his tiny body and rocking him gently as he cried. 

"Barney?" Clint said, reaching out into the blackness until he found his brother's shoulders, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. 

"It's ok, brother, I'm here."

"I can't see."

"Let me look at you," Barney said, hands moving up to cup Clint's face. Clint felt cool fingers probe the skin around his eyes, pulling his lids back gently. "Have you taken something?"

"Ecstasy."

"That explains it. It will pass."

"I know, Phil said."

"Who's Phil?"

"Kinda my boyfriend...I don't know what's going on with us right now..."

"Let's get out of here," Barney said, pulling Clint's arm over his shoulders. 

"But Phil..."

"It's ok," Barney said. Another wave of coldness seeped into Clint's arm where's Barney's fingers rested against his wrist. "We'll find him after. Let's just go for now."

Clint nodded and allowed himself to be led out of the room, shoulder bumping the doorway on his way through. Barney held him tightly around the waist but Clint reached out with one hand to let his fingertips graze against the wall, allowing him to have some idea of where he was. 

They walked through the hallways and out the front door, the cold air hitting Clint's skin which seemed almost feverish, his panic causing his skin to blush. He staggered slightly and Barney's grip tightened. 

"It's ok, little brother, it's ok."

* * * * * * * * * *

Phil pushed open the door, trying to ignore the steady babble of words pouring out of Natasha which was putting him on edge, because a mind reader that couldn't stop saying whatever came into her head? That was some terrifying shit. 

"Clint, we're..." Phil stopped short when he realised the office was empty. He shoved the door out of the way and strode into the room, looking around as if Clint might suddenly pop out from behind the coach or from under the desk. "Where the hell is he?"

"He can't see. He can't have gotten far," Steve said. "Split up. Me and Tony will check out the storerooms and lockers, Bruce and Thor you check the party and Natasha and Phil, you guys go check outside."

It was a testament to how much the other believed Steve deserved the Cap nickname that no one questioned his orders at all. 

* * * * * * * * * *

"He has to be here somewhere. What the hell was he thinking? I said I would be right back."

"He was scared," Natasha said, shrugging slightly. "He doesn't like the dark."

"I know."

"Do you know why?"

"Yeah...because of his dad. Because of what his dad used to do to him."

"The trunk..."

"Yeah, and the rest," Phil spat. "If he wasn't already dead, I'd strangle him with my bare hands."

"Is that what you used to do?"

"Leave it, Tasha."

"You know what's weird? I sort of know what you did but I can't cling to any specifics. It's like you're blocking me somehow."

"I'm not blocking you...I'm just trying to block the memories out." Phil sighed and came to a stop, turning to look Natasha in the eye. "I try to forget about what I did because I don't like the guy I was. I don't like the fact that I got sucked into Fury's criminal empire and used as a weapon. I never wanted Clint to know that part of me, but now I'm gonna have to sit him down and tell him that I used to murder people for money. Clint's a good guy. He's here because he was covering for someone else and now he's getting dragged down into the dark world I'm from."

"He's not the pure innocent being you think he is. He won't care. He just wants to know the truth, that's all."

"I hope you're right. All I ask is that you let me tell him. I know your brain to mouth filter isn't exactly working right now, but if...when we find him, promise me you'll keep what you know to yourself."

"I promise," Natasha said, easily with a nod of her head. 

"Thanks," Phil sighed. A car engine kicking into life caught his attention and he ran around the corner just in time to see a car reversing out of it's parking space. As the car spun round, Phil caught sight of Clint in the passenger seat. He didn't know the driver but the resemblance was uncanny. He looked like an older, darker haired version of Clint. The driver glanced over at Phil and smirked. "Clint?" Phil ran towards the car. "Clint!" he screamed. 

The car went to speed away but a roar cut through the night and suddenly Bruce2 appeared from nowhere, running towards the car and ploughing into the back of it with enough force to crumple the bodywork and send it into a spin. A squeal of brakes and the car came to a stop. Bruce2 ripped open to the door and pulled Clint bodily out of the car. Phil raced to them and grabbed Clint's arm, pulling him away from Bruce2 and the car. Phil was dimly aware that the other's had all emerged but his eyes were focussed on the drivers door which opened with a crunch. The man he assumed was Barney Barton untangled himself from the car and gripped the roof as he rose shakily to his full height. 

"Give me my brother," he demanded and Phil tightened his grip on Clint when the younger man made to follow Barney's demands. 

"What are you doing?"

"Barney said he's gonna take care of me."

"You said you never wanted to see him again. What's going on?"

"I don't know, Phil...what is going on? What can't you tell me?"

"I'll tell you everything. Just, please don't go with him."

"He's not going to hurt me."

"Of course I'm not," Barney shouted. "You must be Phil. Clint told me you're his kind of boyfriend."

"Stay away from him. I know what you did," Phil yelled, tightening his grip tight enough to bruise.

"That's all sorted, isn't it Clint? Water under the bridge."

"Yeah, Clint mumbled. 

"That's not right," Natasha snapped. "His minds all fucked. I can hear it."

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, still clinging to Clint tightly. 

"I mean, I can hear Clint's voice saying he'll never forgive Barney and then I can hear this over voice overriding everything, forcing Clint to do what it wants. His voice." She thrust her chin towards where Barney stood. 

"What the fuck did you do to him?" Tony growled, hand clenching into a fist. 

"Mind control," Barney said, simply. "He's my brother and I love him. I want to make this right but he won't listen. I never meant to kill her. I couldn't care less about our dad, he deserved what I did to him...but mom...mom's death keeps me up at night. I've carried it around for years and it was ok because we were together. But now he's gone. I need him, do you understand? He's all I have left. I did this for him, so we could both be free. It means nothing if we're apart."

"You can't make him stay with you," Phil snapped. 

"Neither can you," Barney said. 

"You're right. But I can man up and tell him the truth and then let him make his own decision. What you're doing, taking away his free will, can only end badly?"

"I can't lose him," Barney said, and Phil saw the slightest crack the hard façade. Barney wasn't lying, he was terrified of losing Clint but Phil wasn't about to let him take Clint when he was so vulnerable and defiantly not when Barney was hijacking his fucking mind. 

"Let him go," Phil pleaded but Barney shook his head. 

"Fuck this," Bruce2 muttered, striding forward and punching Barney smartly in the side of the head. Barney crumpled, eyes rolling back into his head and he slumped unconscious to the floor. 

Clint went suddenly limp in his arms and then startled slightly. 

"Phil?"

"I'm here baby, it's ok," Phil said and pulled him into his arms. 

"How did you know that would work?" Thor asked Bruce2. 

"I didn't," he replied. "But someone had to do something."

"Ahhh 2, we didn't know you cared," Tony said. 

Bruce2 shrugged, strode towards Bruce and disappeared into his chest. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

Phil knocked softly on the door and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. The door opened and Clint's clear blue eyes captured his gaze. 

"Hi," Phil said, swallowing past the lump in his throat. 

"Hey," Clint replied, standing to the side and allowing Phil entrance to his apartment. 

"Thanks for seeing me. How's Barney?" 

"He's fine. I told him if he ever pulls shit like that again, I'll smash his face in."

"So I guess a happy, family reunion is happening any time soon?"

"No. Doesn't look that way."

"I truly think he did what he did because..."

"Phil. I really don't want to talk about this."

"Ok, sorry," Phil said. He licked his lips. "I'm so sorry." He wasn't talking about Barney any more and the way Clint's eyes slipped closed when he nodded, told Phil he knew it too. 

"I know."

"I want to tell you everything."

"Not afraid any more?"

"I'm scared as fuck, but if I have to lose you, I don't want it to be because I was too much of a coward to let you in."

"So start talking," Clint said, throwing himself into his chair and gesturing for Phil to take the sofa. 

Phil perched on the edge and tried to steady his nerves. 

"Ok...here goes...I used to be in the army and when I got out...I don't know, the world felt different. I didn't feel like I fit in it any more. Everyone was going about their everyday lives and I was expected to go to the grocery store and get an everyday job when I was used to holding a gun and being constantly alert for danger."

"Plenty of people come out of the army and lead a normal life."

"Yeah, and loads don't. I can't expect you to understand. Just believe me when I say it was damn hard. I didn't have a family to support me and I'd been in the army so long, I didn't really have _anyone_ outside it any more. The only guy I could think to turn to was my old SO, Nick Fury. I found him when he was just setting up a little crime empire for himself. I didn't even question it because he said if I helped him, I could have my gun back. I felt like a limb was missing without it, so I signed up. I helped him ferry drugs around, I collected protection money and fucked up people who didn't pay, I killed his competitors and I fucked his whores and...I felt dead and empty inside. After about two years, a deal went south. There were seven of us making the trade and we all made it out alive but they got away with the merchandise and kept their money. Fury went crazy. He executed all of them and had his gun pressed against my temple but he couldn't do it. I was his friend. We'd fought together for too long and whatever part of his brain that hadn't been destroyed by drugs still remembered that. I ran and I never looked back."

"Phil..."

"The thing is, the men he killed...I was close to them. I knew them. Some of them had families. It made me think about all the people I'd killed for him and I hated myself. I thought about killing myself, but that would be too easy. I had to make it right. So, I started trying to find Fury again. I tracked him all the way here and then that fucking storm hit and then I took this job as cover and then..." Finally, Phil met Clint's eye but he couldn't fully get his head around what he was seeing. Compassion? Understanding? Fear? Anger? Disgust? A mix of everything? "then I found you. And you were more important to me than revenge so I thought maybe I could just push it away and forget it but I can't. I know it's fucked up. The people I want to avenge weren't nice people. But Fury is so much fucking worse. Can you understand?"

"Yeah...I think I can..."

"If you can, then you must understand Barney?"

Clint looked down at his knees and sighed. 

"He didn't mean to kill your mother."

"It's different."

"Is it?"

"Yes! That was my mom. I don't know the people you hurt."

"I still hurt people. Killed people. And my reasons were a lot less pure than his."

"I dunno..."

"Do you forgive me?"

Clint nodded slowly. 

"Then please, think about forgiving Barney."

"Ok," Clint huffed. "I'll think about."

"Can I kiss you now?"

The corner of Clint's lips turned up slightly and he nodded. Phil slid to his knees before Clint and captured his face in between his hands. 

"I'm not that man any more," Phil breathed, closing the distance and pressing his lips firmly to Clint's. Pulling back, he rested his forehead against Clint's. "I never want to be that man again. If you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you proud of me."

"Phil...I love you."

"I love you too," Phil said, gripping Clint's hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

"You still have so much making up to do though," Clint said, a cheeky grin crossing his lips. 

"I can start right now," Phil said, smiling as he pulled Clint down onto the floor with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come find me on tumblr! Say hello, leave me a prompt, ask me a question...whatever you want, go crazy!
> 
> http://we-are-our-secrets.tumblr.com/


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